Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 207: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the measures taken to research if there is any link between the intestinal problems in animals or humans and the spread of the ragworth weed, especially on waste ground, throughout Ireland. [18876/05]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 208: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the livers of horses who have been feeding on waste ground have rotted due to ingesting the ragworth weed; the steps she will take to eliminate the ragworth weed from the countryside; and the threat to livestock it poses. [18877/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 207 and 208 together.

Under the Noxious Weeds Act 1936, it is an offence not to prevent the spread of certain weeds, including ragwort and the owner, occupier, user or manager of lands on which ragwort is growing is liable, on conviction, to be fined.

Ragwort is a highly poisonous plant as the alkaloids it contains can cause serious damage to the liver of farm animals. The only way to safeguard against loss from ragwort poisoning is to eradicate the weed either by pulling, ploughing, cutting or chemical control. Where weeds are pulled or cut, they must be removed and destroyed before animals are allowed to graze as they are much more palatable in the dried state. Hay or silage should not be harvested from fields containing ragwort. There are no official figures available in Ireland for deaths of horses due to ragwort poising. Unofficial estimates indicate that the level is very low and does not warrant any special attention or investigation.

Over the years the problem of noxious weeds on farms has diminished with most complaints on noxious weeds now relating to urban areas, particularly derelict sites, roadways and waste areas which come within the remit of local authorities. A Teagasc advisory leaflet is available for the control of noxious weeds and is revised in line with advances in new control procedures.