Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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36. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has considered the possibility of a vaccination programme for commercial poultry against avian influenza; and if so, his plans in that regard. [4854/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Whilst vaccination is one of the tools that can be used to control avian influenza, it is not the tool of first choice, and is not currently being considered.

Both emergency vaccination and preventive vaccination are allowed for under the Council Directive 2005/94/EC on Community measures for the control of avian influenza. In both cases a plan would have to be submitted to the European Commission for approval. In the case of emergency vaccination a risk assessment would also have to be carried out.

Any decision to use vaccine would be based on the extent of outbreaks in poultry in Ireland or in a neighbouring country, the type of poultry operations affected, the effectiveness and availability of vaccine, and the potential impact on trade.

The current position is:

- There have been no outbreaks of HPAI H5N8 in poultry in Ireland or Northern Ireland, and there have been no links to Ireland from the outbreaks in Great Britain to date.

- The effectiveness of current vaccines is limited, as they do not prevent birds from becoming infected or from transmitting the virus (although they do reduce sickness and death, and reduce the amount of virus shed into the environment).

- There is currently no EU or national vaccine or antigen bank. There is one vaccine with a marketing authorisation in Europe, however the vaccine is currently unavailable.

- The use of vaccine would have a significant impact on resources for the monitoring and control of vaccinated flocks. It is also likely to impact on trade with Third Countries.