Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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58. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if rhododendron plants can be banned from sale (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13685/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department is responsible for implementing the Wildlife Acts and the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 477/2011), which together provide the legislative framework on invasive alien species issues.

In 2014, a new EU Regulation on invasive alien species (no. 1143/2014) came into force and my Department is the lead authority with respect to the adoption of the provisions of that Regulation and in transposing the Regulation into domestic law. Comprehensive new national Regulations in relation to invasive alien species are being drafted in my Department at this time.

It is currently an offence to introduce or spread Rhododendron ponticum, the widespread invasive form, under Regulation 49 of the 2011 Birds and Natural Habitats Regulations.

Regulation 50 makes it an offence to import, buy, sell, breed, transport and distribute listed animal or plant species or vector material. However it has become clear that this must be cleared with the EU as being in compliance with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in regard to the free movement of goods within the Union, and this will be done as part of the work on the new legislation being drafted in my Department.

It is therefore my intention as soon as practicable to ban the sale of Rhododendron ponticum in Ireland.

I would like to stress that there are over a thousand species of Rhododendron, as well as a huge number of varieties, and very few of these are thought to be capable of spreading into the wild in Ireland. Many species and varieties of Rhododendronare sold in Ireland and are economically important in the horticulture sector, but there is no reliable data to show if there is a significant trade in the invasive Rhododendron ponticum.

However, officials from my Department are working on an on-going basis with the National Biodiversity Data Centre to monitor reports of the sale of Rhododendron ponticumin Ireland and develop a clearer picture of the extent of the issue and assess what resources are required, with a view to dealing with this satisfactorily in the context of the new legislation and bring about more effective control.

The new invasive alien species legislation currently being drafted in my Department will, inter alia, deal with the issue of trade in invasive species as envisaged under Regulation 50 of the 2011 Birds and Habitats Regulations, subject to our obligations under the TFEU.