Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 675: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the levels of dioxins or other pollutants on a county basis arising from recent reports in relation to dioxins; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30629/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The most recent report, Dioxin Levels in the Irish Environment — Third Assessment, Summer 2004, based on levels in cows' milk, was issued by the Environmental Protection Agency on 18 October 2005. A 2004 national survey on which the report is based was carried out between late May and early July, during the peak outdoor grazing season. A series of milk samples was taken from representative regional dairies, 24 samples, including the north Kildare-west Dublin area, with additional samples taken from regions of more intensive industrial activities, 13 samples. The survey found that dioxin levels in Ireland in 2004 were 33% lower than in 1995 and 20% lower than in 2000, and confirmed that dioxin levels in Ireland remain among the lowest in Europe. A copy of the report is available in the Oireachtas Library.