Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 31: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the latest information available to her Department on the outbreak of bird flu in Britain; the steps she is taking to ensure that the disease does not spread to this country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30081/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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On 12th November, the UK Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced that it had confirmed avian 'flu in turkeys on a farm on the Norfolk/Suffolk border and, on the following day, confirmed that it was the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain. A second case was confirmed on the 19th of November on one of four premises on which all poultry had been culled, having been identified as 'dangerous contacts.'

The total number of poultry culled on the originally infected premises and the four 'dangerous contacts' was approximately 28,600. The epidemiological investigation as to the origin of the disease is ongoing and all avenues into the possible source are being investigated. Defra had confirmed that the strain of the virus found on the originally infected premises is similar to that found in Germany, France and the Czech Republic during the summer.

Immediately after the case on the 12th, and on a number of occasions since, the Management Committee of the National Disease Control Centre (NDCC) in my Department met to review the situation in the light of the information available. Meetings of the Committee are frequently chaired by me or, in my absence, by the Secretary General of my Department.

In response to the outbreak in England, and consistent with the introduction of a ban on bird shows and gatherings in Britain, my Department and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) in Northern Ireland, banned the participation of birds from Britain in any shows, exhibitions and other gatherings on the island of Ireland. This is further evidence of the all-island approach that has consistently been taken, and to which we remain committed, in the face of various animal health threats, including foot-and-mouth disease and bluetongue. Contact between the two Departments is being maintained at both political and official levels.

My Department also republished biosecurity advice to poultry flockowners in the national newspapers and is in the process of writing to all registered flockowners reiterating that advice. In addition, my Department is currently processing grant applications from some 430 poultry flockowners who have installed water chlorination facilities to ensure that any virus contained in the water supplies to their poultry houses is deactivated. This measure will significantly reduce the risk of the virus being spread to commercial flocks in the event of the disease being introduced by wild birds.

My Department has also been in touch with those other agencies on whose assistance it would rely in the event of an outbreak in this country, including An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces, the Civil Defence as well as with the Department of Health and Children. Expert ornithological advice is being provided by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government as well as by BirdWatch Ireland.

I have at my disposal a range of veterinary, scientific, ornithological, administrative and legal expertise and, with my officials and on the basis of the expert advice available to me, continue to keep the situation under constant review and to keep the risk of the introduction of the disease to Ireland under constant assessment. The current expert ornithological advice suggests that we are close to the end of the current migration season and the wild bird population will remain stable unless there is a particularly severe weather snap. Furthermore, it is considered that the numbers of wild birds moving between the east coast of England and Ireland would be small.

Having reviewed their contingency arrangements, my Department and I remain satisfied that the existing range of contingency arrangements, including legislative powers, is adequate to deal with the current threat. If at any time it is considered that additional control measures ought to be introduced, either in the light of any new information from Britain or in the context of any reassessment of the risk to this country, I will not hesitate to introduce such measures