Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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19. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions being taken to ensure no outbreak of bluetongue in Ireland on foot of recent outbreaks in the UK and Europe; if testing has been carried out on animals in Ireland due to these outbreaks in the UK and Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13741/25]

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister outline the efforts being made to prevent the spread of bluetongue to Ireland in view of the fact that it is in the UK and on the Continent? We are moving towards warmer weather, longer days and possibly an increase in the mobility of the midge population, which is potentially carrying bluetongue disease.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this really important issue. Our livestock sector faces ever-increasing animal health threats. Diseases such as bluetongue threaten our cattle and sheep. I take the threat of bluetongue virus, BTV, very seriously. My Department carries out post-entry sampling of all ruminant animals and camelids from mainland Europe for BTV regardless of the bluetongue status of the country of origin. This mitigates the risk of the disease being inadvertently imported with live animals. The EU TRACES system indicates that no such animals have entered Ireland from mainland Europe this year. No susceptible species have been permitted to be imported into Ireland from Great Britain since late 2023, when the first cases of bluetongue serotype 3 occurred in England.

My Department carried out active surveillance for bluetongue in the east and south east of the country in the summer of 2024. Four farms in each of five south eastern counties were targeted, with 15 animals per farm sampled. A total of 300 animals were tested and all were negative. This followed an earlier enhanced surveillance effort in spring 2024 during which 205 animals were tested, again with negative results. This provided assurance that bluetongue was not already present in Ireland. My Department's regional veterinary laboratory network also routinely samples malformed foetuses for bluetongue testing as this can be an early indication of infection in a herd or flock.

I recognise the importance of communication and engagement with stakeholders on this issue, which is why my Department convened a number of meetings on the threat of bluetongue during 2024 and earlier this year. Department officials have spoken at meetings of farmers and veterinary practitioners to raise awareness of this threat. There has been regular engagement between my officials and their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs under Minister Muir regarding proposed disease control measures for BTV, given that the island is one epidemiological site. Given that we are entering a higher risk period, as the Deputy has outlined, for possible bluetongue incursion, I urge all herd owners and other stakeholders to remain vigilant and aware of signs of the disease and to report any suspicions of the disease in their livestock to my Department without delay.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for the details of the various efforts that have been made over the last number of years on this. I ask him to outline whether tests have been carried out on livestock this year. In addition to livestock, trucks and various other vehicles would be travelling back and forth between the UK and the Continent as well as across the Border with the North. Are tests being carried out on them or are they being monitored to ensure they are not carrying midges or infected livestock? What efforts are being made to ensure vehicles are disease free when they are crossing the Border?

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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We have enhanced biosecurity measures at our ports for vehicles coming in. Ireland is currently BTV free. An outbreak of BTV in Ireland would have a significant impact on animal welfare, the Irish livestock sector and trade. It is important to state that Bluetongue does not impact human health or food safety. However, the bluetongue virus serotype 3, BTV-3, has spread widely across northern and western Europe in 2024, while serotype 12, BTV-12, has also been detected in the Netherlands and eastern England. BTV-3 vaccines have been developed and have been in use in EU member states affected by the disease in Great Britain. There are no vaccines for BTV-12 at present.

As the Deputy outlined, we are now heading into the high risk period. Prior to April, the risk from midges was greatly reduced. From here on, however, the need for vigilance on the part of farmers, everybody who deals with livestock, my Department officials and others continues to be a top priority.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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On the question of vigilance within the farming community, if a farmer identifies the disease that means it is already here. My focus is on preventing it travelling to us here, whether on vehicles going back and forth on ferries or across the Border. Are efforts being made to ensure that those vehicles do not bring the virus with them? The Minister briefly referred to the possibility of vaccines. Is he going to make vaccines available to people who want to vaccinate livestock?

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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On the last point, as I outlined, there is no vaccine for BTV-12 but there is one for BTV-3 and that remains under consideration. On the Deputy's main point, the answer is that we are doing everything we can to try to keep this out. Obviously, we are not importing risk animals from risk areas. There is a risk, at the height of the season in high summer, of midges travelling over themselves from England and that is something we cannot mitigate against. In terms of identifying if it is here, doing so early is really important in order that we can put exclusion zones in place.

That is mitigation. We do not want it to happen and we are making every attempt to ensure it does not get here at all. However, it is important to have plans in place in order that, if it is here, we know as quickly as possible where it is. That is where the vigilance aspect comes in. There are enhanced biosecurity measures at our ports for vehicles coming from at-risk areas. Those efforts are continuing. We are doing everything we can to protect Ireland from what is a notifiable disease that would have a big impact on our trade.