Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for bringing this important Commencement matter to the House. As they both know, I fully acknowledge the important contribution bees make not only to agriculture and biodiversity but also as an important activity for people. Indeed, beekeepers are very passionate about what they do. In this regard, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine provides a range of supports and initiatives to encourage and assist beekeepers and the national beekeeping associations. These supports include funding to carry out applied research through the national apiculture programme, grants to national beekeeping associations and grant aid to fund capital investments for beekeepers. The Department is also a partner in the all-Ireland pollinator plan, which will run until 2025. The Department is supporting a farmland pollinator officer and a successful European innovation partnership project running in County Kildare. The Department is a member of the all-Ireland honeybee strategy steering group so we are very much fully aware of the concerns that exist. We have, as Senator McGreehan outlined, funded a number of studies under the genetic research grant aid scheme looking at various aspects of this honeybee species and specifically apis mellifera mellifera. In 2021, funding has been allocated for an innovative queen rearing project. The Department also supports the work of the Native Irish Honey Bee Society, NIHBS.

The importation of honeybees into Ireland is facilitated under regulations governing intra-community trade with other EU member states. The specific health requirements for trading in bees are laid out in Regulation 2016/429. All imports of bees must be accompanied by a health certificate issued by the country of export. The reason for this is to ensure that imported bees are healthy and do not harbour pathogens or parasites that may be harmful to our native bee stock. The health certificate also outlines the import restrictions that apply on regions that have confirmed cases of the small hive beetle. It is therefore very much built around protecting our own bee species from disease and ill health rather than safeguarding the genetic strength.

Regarding the protection of the native Irish honeybee, I recently met with the NIHBS. I thank Senator Martin for organising that. Following this meeting, officials in the Department are progressing avenues and have vowed to engage with the society as they do this. We are also engaging with the European Commission on the feasibility of the various options related to protecting our own species of bee. To this end, discussions are taking place with officials in the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS. There are certain elements in place for native wild bees whereas native honeybees are more domesticated varieties so they fall under a different Department. The NPWS will look into elements such as invasive species that fall within its remit. In tandem, Department officials and bee associations in conjunction with the NPWS are investigating and progressing options in relation to the query at hand. They are also working on matters related to education aimed at new beekeepers because there has been quite a bit of interest in beekeeping over the last while. It is important that beekeepers know the type of bee they are getting and what is the best bee for them. If that is the native Irish honeybee, all the better.