Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy can take it from me that we are taking this matter very seriously. She mentioned extending inspection of imported seeds. That option is not open to us under EU regulations. We can control what is propagated here. The seed that was discovered in the Teagasc plant was imported from the UK. We envisage that the vast majority of wild seed used in Ireland in future will be propagated here and that where seed from abroad is used, it will be assembled here and we will have control over that. In all those circumstances, we have zero tolerance for any level of black grass, which is being removed. The Deputy's points are valid and we take them on board. We are working on this issue.

This measure is not reactive. The voluntary code has been in place for a long time and covers black grass. We are increasing vigilance. I will bring back the Deputy's point about a promotional campaign, as it is a point worth making. We take this issue very seriously.

See this speech in context