Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, Deputy Creed, for coming to the Chamber. I will take a different tack. The use of the chemical glyphosate as a herbicide is a matter of extreme importance to farm safety.

Glyphosate is probably the most prevalent chemical in the world that is used as a herbicide weedkiller. It is most commonly available in Monsanto's product Roundup. As Members are no doubt aware, the European Commission decided last week to re-authorise the use of glyphosate for an 18-month period. Member states have leeway in restricting its use and so far there is no indication the Government has any intention of doing this. I ask the Minister to indicate what he will do about this.

Several EU countries do not permit the use of herbicides such as Roundup before harvest time or any use near playgrounds, schools or public parks, yet we have unrestricted sale and use of it in Ireland. I would like to see this changed immediately. Through a resolution in the European Parliament, MEPs have urged the Commission to authorise its use for a short seven years and only then for professional use. The World Health Organization has conducted a study that identifies glyphosates as a probable carcinogenic, so it is probably cancer causing. In parts of South America rates of birth defects and miscarriages have increased in areas where pregnant women are living close to fields sprayed with glyphosates and they have been contaminated.

A 2015 study carried out by the University of California, San Francisco, found glyphosates in the urine of some 93% of Americans tested and a 2013 study in Europe found traces of glyphosates in the urine of individuals from all 18 countries tested. Chemicals such as glyphosates not only present a major risk to the health of humans, they also disrupt the ecosystem by contributing to the mortality of wildlife, particularly of insects such as bees on which we depend to pollinate our crops and control other pests. This is massively damaging to food security.

I consider the use of glyphosates to be a farm health, wellbeing and safety issue. Only last week we saw that the ozone layer is healing again. In the 1980s we stopped the use of chlorofluorocarbons, different chemicals that had negative impacts on ozone and on human health. I believe if we stop using glyphosates we will force companies to stop producing them and thereby help the health and wellbeing of not only our farming communities but all the communities in Ireland and Europe.