Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

When there were protests outside the Dáil, a lot of people said they got bitten by insects in parks. It is worth looking into it to see if it is an issue.

I want to make a couple of points and I know one or two other members want to come back in again. I wish to raise the bark beetle. We have estates of Sitka spruce with a huge value in this country. There is timber worth millions to be harvested in the next ten to 20 years. The border of the exclusion zone is moving constantly in Scotland. It has come from Wales and gone up through the UK and the exclusion zone is getting smaller and smaller in Scotland. In the interests of biosecurity, do the Ministers not think we should have a ban on all bark timber coming into the country? We have had the experience of ash dieback and we do not want to see another disease coming in. This beetle is moving up through the UK and it is going to take over Scotland in a matter of time. In the interests of trying to protect our hugely valuable Sitka spruce, we should have a ban on any barked timber coming into the country.