Written answers

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Plant Protection Products

Photo of Sandra McLellanSandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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843. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 326 of 4 March 2014, if he will clarify the regulations regarding experimental weather modification and chemical spraying in the skies; if he could also clarify who carries out this practice; the reason for same; the person that authorised it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12827/14]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive’s primary aim is to reduce the risks to human health and the environment that are associated with pesticide use. The directive is designed to further enhance the high level of protection achieved through the entire regulatory system for pesticides. This Directive (Directive 2009/128/EC) is transposed into Irish law by Statutory Instrument No. 155 of 2012.

This S.I. prohibits the application of pesticides from aircraft (aerial spraying) except under extenuating circumstances and only after a comprehensive and exhaustive risk assessment is carried out. This risk assessment is carried out by the competent authority in each Member State. To that end, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is the competent authority responsible for conducting such risk assessments and for the issuance of any permit to allow such aerial application to occur.

It should be noted that no aerial application of pesticides has occurred on farmland in Ireland since 1993. On that occasion it was deemed absolutely necessary due to extreme weather conditions whereby farmers were unable to apply plant protection products to potato crops using their own equipment. The exercise was carried out under the strict supervision of officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. In addition, my Department limited the products that could be applied to the affected potato crops. Only products with a more favourable environmental profile and that were of less concern to public health, were permitted.

The aerial application of plant protection products is a very specialised job and thus is only carried out by specialist contractors (none of which are based in Ireland). The aerial application which occurred in Ireland in 1993 was carried out by a UK based contractor. The issue of experimental weather modification is not a matter for my Department.

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