Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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99. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which he remains satisfied regarding the adequacy of disease control, traceability, and isolation in the context of the prevention of bovine diseases; whether he remains satisfied that existing measures remain adequate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34853/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As stated in my reply to you on 1 July last , my Department has robust notification and traceability systems to ensure the early detection of diseases. It is a legal requirement to notify my Department of any suspicion of all relevant diseases, including those affecting bovines. Vigilance against the introduction of ‘Class A’ disease including foot and mouth disease, avian influenza, bluetongue and African swine fever, remains a priority for my Department and previous experience has demonstrated the absolute necessity of properly regulating trade, high levels of bio-security, continued vigilance, contingency arrangements and robust legislation to deal speedily and effectively with disease threats and outbreaks.

My Department has contingency plans in place to deal with disease threats and outbreaks. These plans are based on existing EU legislation and criteria identified during outbreaks in Europe and aim to mitigate the risk of disease introduction into Ireland and to control and eradicate them quickly if outbreaks occur. The continued focus of the Department is on constantly reviewing, refining and updating our various contingency plans and arrangements and ensuring that we have all of the necessary measures in place and tools available to us to deal with any suspect or outbreak of these diseases.

In the event of an outbreak or the threat of an outbreak, the key focus will be on bio-security measures at the optimal level on farms as well as on-going co-operation contact with other state agencies (including NI) , industry and farm representatives to ensure that a high degree of vigilance is being maintained with a view to preventing the incursion of the disease, insofar as this is possible, and to detect an outbreak at an early stage in order to prevent its spread.