Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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I thank the Chair for the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment. I tried to do so by way of Standing Order 31 several times before the end of last month. This matter is urgent, particularly since we are now in November.

I asked that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, implement the safeguard clause provided for in EU Directive 2001/18/EC in line with the unanimous decision in the House in support of Ireland being GM-free in food, seed and agriculture. That decision came from the Joint Committee on European Affairs and the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government.

I also ask that action be taken urgently, given that live and viable seed, GT73, genetically modified oilseed rape, could germinate here and end our commercially advantageous GM free status. It is due to arrive here if it is decided by the commercial interests concerned to import it. By the end of last month it was possible for them to import it into Ireland. We are living on borrowed time. I ask the Minister of State to take into account the serious impact of this particular issue given that it has far-reaching and permanent repercussions in train for this country. We need an emergency response from the Government to the European Commission decision to legalise the importation of Monsanto's patented GT73 oilseed rape. It is the first live GMO seed to be authorised for use as animal feed in the EU, even though the spilled seed can, inevitably, produce a crop.

GT73 can now be freely imported into the Republic and Northern Ireland. The decision was taken against the wishes of the majority of EU member states. For some bizarre reason which, perhaps, the Minister of State can explain, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, abstained on the matter. If a single shipment of this GMO seed is unloaded on this island, contamination will be inevitable and irreversible. This means that in a few years' time, it may be impossible for Irish farmers to grow GM free brassica crops, including broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, collards, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, oilseed rape and turnips, because of cross-contamination by seed dispersal and wind borne pollen.

All these contaminated crops will, in effect, belong to Monsanto. Farmers with contaminated land will have to pay royalties or face patent infringement lawsuits. They will have to put GM labels on their produce and may no longer be able to sell it in most EU countries. Many will lose their constitutional right to earn a livelihood as organic farmers. This has already been the case in countries such as Canada where quite an amount of legal precedent has been established to indicate what lies ahead for us unless the Government takes action.

Effectively, we are talking about the death knell for organic farming in Ireland. It is likely that the whole island of Ireland will be contaminated within a few growing seasons. The introduction of live GM seed to Ireland places Irish farmers in danger of being sued for breach of patent by the biotechnology companies should their conventional crops be contaminated by GM material. The risk is much wider than organic farming because of the possibility of legal repercussions for any farmer who has unwanted GM material growing on his or her land. This situation has occurred on numerous occasions throughout Canada, the US and elsewhere.

I again strongly urge the Government to take action by implementing the safeguard clause and to comply with the spirit of the decision taken on 15 June 2005 by the Joint Committee on European Affairs and the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government. Both of these committees gave unanimous cross-party support to Ireland remaining GM free and for the sovereign right of EU member states to ban specific GM products about which there might be questions of safety. I appeal to the Minister of State to take the decision now. If not, in future people will ask why the Government lay down and rolled over in the face of pressure from companies such as Monsanto.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to outline the position on the authorisation by the European Commission on 31 August 2005 of Monsanto GT73 genetically modified oilseed rape. The House is already aware from replies to recent parliamentary questions that Ireland was among a number of member states that abstained in the vote at the Environment Council on 20 December 2004 on the Commission's proposal to authorise the product for use throughout the European Community as animal feed and for industrial processing. It is important to stress that the proposal did not include any provision for cultivation of the variety from seed.

Ireland's abstention at Council had regard to the long-standing positive but precautionary approach to modern biotechnology endorsed by successive Governments, the favourable opinion on the product from the Environmental Protection Agency as the competent Irish authority for the purposes of the directive following the agency's consultations with other relevant State agencies, and consideration of the product within my Department. It also took account of the views of the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government and the outcome of the earlier discussion of and vote on the product at the June 2004 meeting of the regulatory committee for the purposes of the directive.

Many misleading comments have been made about Ireland's abstention at Council. Among them is a suggestion — not made today — that had Ireland voted against the proposal, the Commission would not have been able to approve the product. This is simply not the case. To achieve a decision under qualified majority voting, 232 votes must be cast either in favour or against a proposal. In this case, 78 votes were in favour, 135 votes were against, and 108 abstentions were recorded. Therefore, Ireland's seven votes could not have tipped the scales either for or against the product. A qualified majority against the proposal could only have been achieved had other abstaining countries, namely, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic and the UK switched from abstention to negativity.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Ireland might have persuaded them.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Another suggestion — this is reflected in the Adjournment motion — is that there will be inevitable and widespread contamination arising from the import of GT73 for animal feed. My understanding is that oilseed rape imported into this country is processed prior to its importation by crushing and its oil extracted. This minimises the possibility of live seed entering the environment.

The Deputy now seeks the invocation of the safeguard clause under Article 23 of Directive 2001/18/EC to prevent the marketing of the product in Ireland. I clarify for the House that there are detailed specified conditions under which this safeguard clause may be invoked. These conditions include the emergence of new or additional information made available since the date of the consent and affecting the environmental risk assessment, or the reassessment of existing information on the basis of new or additional scientific knowledge which provide detailed grounds for considering that the product constitutes a risk to human health or the environment. Such conditions have not been fulfilled with the product in question, especially since the date of consent was 31 August 2005. In these circumstances, it would not be appropriate to seek to invoke the safeguard clause under Directive 2001/18/EC in respect of the importation of GT73 oilseed rape.