Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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411. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will report on the amount of pesticide used in the State in the years 2020 to date and any Government targets or commitments to reduce usage, both in terms of percentage and overall quantity, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44632/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Pesticide usage data is collected through surveys that are currently conducted on a cyclical basis in accordance with requirements in Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009.

Work is ongoing on the present cycle (2020-2024), covering pesticide use on grassland and fodder crops, vegetables, top and soft fruit, and arable and potato crops. The results will be published in due course on my Department’s pesticides website. Results from the cycles completed to date have been published previously. This information is available on our website at www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie. Information on pesticide sales data is collected in a separate process and is published on an annual basis.

Targets to reduce pesticide use within the EU as a whole, and also at a national level, are being discussed as part of the ongoing negotiations on the European Commission proposal for a Regulation on the sustainable use of pesticides.

The scale of pesticide use in Ireland is relatively low compared to many other countries and Ireland is making very good progress in reducing chemical pesticide use as measured by current EU indicators. Based on the most up-to-date information, these indicators show that Ireland has reduced the overall use of chemical pesticides by 49% compared to the baseline reference period of 2015-2017, and that the use of more hazardous pesticides has decreased by 28% over the same period.