Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

The Taoiseach gives the impression that Ireland did not vote or else abstained on the lifting of the ban whereas the Government voted in favour of it. A report in The Guardian today states that the EU will prohibit GM oil seed rape crops. The Belgian Government is in no doubt that growing GM oil seed rape is harmful to the environment and urges other EU countries to follow suit. Will the Taoiseach give consideration to Ireland being a GM-free zone? Will he let it be known that this is our view? We want this country to be a major food exporter that does not rely on genetic modification. The legal advice we have received suggests it is possible under the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety. Rather than sitting on the fence by waiting for consensus to arise like a dead body from the mire, I ask the Taoiseach to espouse a position. The Government's current position is that it is gung ho for GM.

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