Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which the full range of testing facilities has been provided at the National Laboratories at Cellbridge County Kildare; if any samples continue to be sent overseas for testing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56260/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Marine (DAFM) Laboratories carry out a broad and in-depth range of laboratory tests to support DAFM’s requirements in the areas of animal health, plant health and food and feed safety. While DAFM laboratories have the capacity to carry out most of the tests to meet these requirements, for cost efficient reasons, some tests are outsourced.

Regulatory controls relating to food safety, Feed safety, Animal Health and Welfare and Plant Health are managed within the EU in accordance with Regulation 882 of 2004. This Regulation requires that an integrated Irish multi-annual control plan be in place to ensure that these controls are carried out in the most efficient manner possible. A copy of this Multi Annual National Control Plan (MANCP), most recently submitted to the EU Commission in 2012, for the period 2012-2016 is available at " "

This approach, towards the preparation and delivery of food and feed controls in Ireland, requires a high level of collaboration between DAFM and the FSAI to produce and deliver the requirements of this plan. The State Laboratories at Backweston (in the Department of Public Expenditure Review {DPER}) are part of the Irish Laboratory infrastructure that is used to deliver this plan. Due to the complexity and wide range of controls required by this plan it is not possible to provide all the required analytical services within the State. It is, therefore, still necessary to have some samples analysed in external laboratories.

The analytical capacity of the DAFM Laboratories are under continuing review to ensure that the most appropriate laboratory capacity is in place to support the implementation of food, feed, animal health and welfare and plant health controls.