Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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972. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a company (details supplied) was granted a licence to be an approved tree and hedging nursery; if so, the year it was granted and revoked; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36016/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The primary role of my Department is to ensure that the producers of plant material comply with both EU and Irish plant health legislation. The aim of this legislation is to prevent the movement and spread of plant quarantine harmful organisms within the EU territory and its member states.

To achieve this, an identification label called a ‘plant passport’ must accompany certain plants, which identifies the grower, the origin and verifies that the plant is eligible to move within the EU. Plants which must be accompanied by a plant passport are known as regulated plants. All producers of regulated plant material must apply to and be registered with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

My Department is responsible for checking these producers for compliance with the EU plant health requirements. Once these premises are inspected and are found to be compliant, the plants/plant products can qualify for plant passports and are then free to move within Ireland or to another EU Member State.

Specifically with regard to the party mentioned, authorisation to issue plant passports was initially approved in 2010 and subsequently removed in 2015, therefore preventing any further legitimate trade in certain regulated plants.