Mr. Micheál O'Mahony:

Let me deal with Deputy Michael McNamara's questions about our role with regard to imports and exports of seafood. He asked about our role in the official control of exports of seafoods. That is done at the processing plants located in Ireland. This is a significant logistical challenge for the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority as it involves visiting each processing plant to inspect each consignment. We have a legal obligation to inspect and certify consignments. We have to drive to each processing plant each time a plant has a consignment going to another country.

Imports of food into the European Union is a matter attracting particular EU scrutiny because once food comes into one member state such as Ireland, it has entry into the entire European Union. Rotterdam is the largest importing port in the Union. We have two designated border inspection ports in Ireland - Dublin Port and Shannon Airport. Ireland is a net exporter of food rather than a net importer, while the European Union is a net importer of food, being the largest importing block for seafood in the world. In round terms, seafood makes up approximately one in five consignments of food arriving in Dublin Port. I do not have exact figures, but I can forward them to the Deputy. We do not work at the border inspection ports; we provide technical support for the staff of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine who man the ports.

On the question of who inspects seafood imports such as shellfish into Ireland, live shellfish is not imported. I note there is a representative present from the Irish health food association. Ireland is a net exporter of shellfish, of which very little is consumed here. Dead shellfish which have been processed such as Bangladeshi tiger prawns and Canadian frozen lobster are being imported. These products are inspected at the border ports under a reciprocal relationship. The onus is on the exporting country to provide the attestations which are then verified at the border inspection port by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We provide direct support for the inspection staff.