Live Exports
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Martin Heydon (FG), Kildare South

I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for raising the important issue of live exports. Whether it is live exports or agrifood, my role and that of my Department is to ensure market access for Irish farmers' produce. We need to provide the greatest number of opportunities and outlets to give the best possible return for those who export it and the companies that handle it. Obviously, that will drive a return for the farmers who produce that agricultural produce.
At present, I do not have any plans to introduce a fund or specific financial support scheme to cover or contribute to the costs of vaccines or laboratory tests associated with live exports. These costs are considered part of the commercial and regulatory obligations associated with participation in certain export markets. While some export markets require vaccination or pre-export testing, in other markets this is not a requirement. My Department will, however, continue to engage with industry stakeholders and monitor developments in export requirements to ensure that Ireland remains competitive while maintaining the highest standards of animal health and welfare.
Specifically in relation to bluetongue, conditions of derogations applied by other member states are set by the competent authorities in those member states, not by my Department.
The vast majority of our exports of cattle, however, are to EU markets where no vaccination or pre-export testing is required.
I recently co-ordinated closely with my Northern Ireland counterpart, as the Deputy will be aware, to ensure that cross-Border trade had been able to resume with no additional requirements. That has been very important.
Since confirmation of bluetongue virus in Ireland in January, my Department has engaged successfully with a number of third country markets, for example, Algeria and Tunisia, to amend veterinary health certificate requirements to allow trade to resume.
That is my and my Department's role. It is to make sure that where there are blockages, my officials engage with officials in the relevant member state or third country and look to agree a set of conditions. Those conditions, however, are set down by the receiving country. We do not set them. We negotiate with those countries and try to make sure we have access.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19