Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I have the utmost respect for this House. The decision by Ireland to abstain on the EU Council vote on GM animal feeds is in line with that of France and Italy, which also abstained. These are major buyers of Irish produce. Had Ireland voted in favour, it would not have affected the outcome of the vote. The Government's objective is to seek to negotiate an island-wide GM free zone. It is not about banning imported GM feed, it is about not growing GM crops and not proliferating GM pollen, seed dispersal and superweeds. In line with Government policy, I have set in motion a number of other Departments to elaborate this commitment and to tease out the implications from a policy perspective. That is the Government decision.

On the issue of synchronisation, previous to this Government, as the Deputy knows, I expressed grave concerns about the need for synchronisation. Waiting for three years for something to happen is very problematic for farmers because it creates a situation whereby the feed importers are afraid of purchasing ahead of time.

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