Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The Government will introduce the banning of individual products and chemical derivatives. The British Government, under emergency measures, notified the European Commission of the banning of certain drugs. The only difficulty that has arisen is that one must formally make a notification, which takes three months. The Government has been in touch with the European Commission with regard to the use of the emergency procedures and whether they would stand up. We are doing everything we can to expedite the Commission's sanction so we can proceed with the banning of these drugs. It is also important to state that although we will proceed with these issues as is, there are other issues which must be addressed in the context of other Departments. They are working together to ensure that the final decisions made can deal with the actual needs of our citizens and the concerns expressed by parents.

See this speech in context