Mary Wallace (Meath, Fianna Fail)

As the Deputy may be aware, an interdepartmental-inter-agency working group was established within the Department in 2003 to develop proposals for a national strategy and best practices to ensure the co-existence of GM crops with conventional and organic farming. That group presented us with its final report and recommendations in December 2005 which, inter alia, recommended that a combination of mandatory and voluntary measures are best to meet the objective of implementing the co-existence of GM crops alongside non-GM crops in Irish agriculture.

In order to capture the widest range of views on the issue, we arranged to have the report and its recommendations placed on the Department's website and invited observations from the general public. We are currently engaged in the process of considering the submissions received in light of the recommendations made and the ongoing international developments in this area, particularly relating to thresholds for organic produce. Draft legislation is currently being prepared in the Department to give effect to the mandatory measures proposed. We hope to be in a position to bring forward such measures to Government in the near future.

On the issue of economic evaluation, part of the group's work programme was to examine the economic implications of co-existence. Based on work carried out by Teagasc, as part of its ongoing programme of research investigating the potential risks and benefits associated with the growing of GM crops in Ireland, including, inter alia, the economic implications, indications were that the cultivation of certain crops with certain modifications may provide a financial incentive to the individual Irish farmer. While strands of this research paralleled completed work in other countries, it did not specifically address the costs associated with the co-existence of GM and non-GM crops.

The general conclusion of Danish and UK research on the economic impact of co-existence on farm profitability was that the costs of complying with the required thresholds for crops of maize, potatoes, cereals, oilseed rape and sugar beet vary from 0% to 9% above the costs of growing conventional crops.

However, we wanted to establish greater clarity in the matter as far as Irish conditions were concerned. Consequently, the Minister requested Teagasc to carry out a study to evaluate the possible national economic implications for the agrifood industry in Ireland from the use of GMOs in crop and livestock production. Teagasc based its study on the following scenarios: the economic implications of only allowing the importation into Ireland of certified GM-free soyabean and maize livestock feed ingredients; and the economic implications of GM-free crop cultivation in Ireland.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

In the first scenario, the study showed that substantial additional costs would be placed on the livestock sector, particularly on specialist dairy and beef farmers, if they were to use only certified GM-free soya and maize in feedingstuffs.

In the second scenario, the study examined five hypothetical GM crops which could be grown here — herbicide tolerant sugar beet, Septoria resistant winter wheat, Fusarium resistant winter wheat, Rhyncosporium resistant spring barley and blight resistant potatoes. This study showed that increased profits could be generated for growers of these crops compared to their conventional equivalent. However, the study showed that there is a significant cost in regard to identity preservation for conventional growers in a co-existence arrangement.

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