Written answers

Monday, 11 September 2017

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Health and Safety Regulations

Photo of Jackie CahillJackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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1380. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will review the cost of the health and safety inspection for privately owned sprayers (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38544/17]

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive establishes a framework for community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides. It sets minimum rules for the use of pesticides in the Community, so as to reduce the risks to human health and the environment and also promotes the use of integrated pest management.

Implementation of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive relies heavily on both the training of the various people involved at all levels of the industry, and also on the testing programme that has been introduced for all pesticide application equipment.

The need for appropriate training and the requirement for the testing of all pesticide application equipment must be viewed in the context of protecting both human health (operators, bystanders and consumers) and the environment (in particular, by maintaining the high quality of one of our most valuable resources, our water).

The testing of pesticide application equipment must be carried out by a trained and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine-registered Equipment Inspector. The time taken to complete individual inspections will vary depending on the size of the sprayer and therefore farmers who have smaller sprayers will find that this will be reflected in the inspection cost. Each Equipment Inspector operates independently and as a commercial entity, he/she will have his/her own costing structure, my Department does not set any guidelines for charges.

The mandatory maintenance of pesticide application equipment up to the standard required is not only very desirable from a good practice perspective, but it is also very cost effective from the point of view of the farmer by ensuring that the application equipment is applying the correct amount of product and spraying it in an accurate manner.

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