PJ Murphy
Agricultural Panel · Fine Gael · Ireland
“If issues regarding the day-to-day operation of licensing systems cannot be discussed at the appropriate forum, it is difficult to know where they can be discussed, other than on the floor of this House. I understand a further phase of stakeholder engagement is planned for the coming months.”
“I thank the Minister of State very much for her answer. Although I take on board what the Minister of State has said, there is no doubt but that there are glaring inconsistencies right across the country, even from division to division and from station to station, in the implementation of the existing rules on the granting of firearms lic…”
“These concerns were reinforced at a recent briefing in the audiovisual room in Leinster House, hosted by the National Association of Regional Game Councils, NARGC, and the Firearms Users Representative Group, FURG, which was well attended by Members from across the political divide and from all parties.”
“These concerns include lost or misplaced applications; delays in processing; additional documentation requirements that go way beyond the published guidelines; applicants being told they own too many firearms, despite meeting the legal requirements; and the failure to provide formal refusal letters outlining the reasons for decisions.”
“I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh, to the House and take this opportunity to congratulate her on her recent appointment. I wish her all the best in her new role. I raise an issue of significant concern to many law-abiding firearm licenceholders throughout rural Ireland.”
“I ask the Minister of State, as a matter of urgency, to meet representatives of FURG and the NARGC, the largest rural pursuits membership organisation in the country and the second-largest sports organisation in Ireland in terms of membership after the GAA, to hear directly from them regarding the challenges facing licensed firearms holde…”
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“Therefore, I call for a special drug unit of An Garda Síochána to be deployed in the south Galway area, including Gort, to make an example of the few despicable and unscrupulous characters who are bringing so much turmoil to it, so that they will feel the heavy hand of Irish justice coming down upon them as a matter of urgency.”
“It is with very great concern indeed that I stand here today to draw attention to the shocking increases in drug-related crime, drug use and drug-related intimidation in my area, south Galway. More and more, we see decent local families go into debt to pay off the drug-related debts accrued by their sons and daughters, with great fear of repercussions for them and their children if they do not do so. In recent weeks, we have heard of threats to burn houses, the burning of cars and vehicles, extreme vandalism, burnings in farmyards and threats against people themselves. I am worried that it is only a matter of time before we see in my area, south Galway, a repeat of what happened in Edenderry.”
“I raise the issue of dereliction in our rural towns, particularly the rural town of Portumna in my area and the continued shameful state of the town’s only hotel, the Shannon Oaks Hotel. Despite years of calls to reopen the Shannon Oaks Hotel by local activists, such as local councillor, Jimmy McClearn, and many others, the investors who own this derelict property have made a decision to leave it in a shameful state of dereliction and disrepair. It is very unsightly on the edge of the town, which is now left without a hotel. As a State, we must have the means of forcing the hand of property owners and owners of derelict properties to either bring properties they own back into use or sell them. I call for a debate in the House on the topic of dereliction in our rural towns as soon as possible.”
“In the vast majority of cases, these alternative turf banks have not been identified by the NPWS and the contract for compensation ends on 1 January 2026. Therefore, in 2026, these turf bank owners will find themselves without the stream of compensation that was to allow for the purchase of fuel to replace what they would have cut on their own turf banks and without having been given alternative places to cut turf. I call on the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, to intervene in advance of spring 2026 and allow turf cutters to return to cutting turf on their original turf banks, continue the compensation package that was agreed in 2011 or ensure that alternative turf banks are put in place for these people.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with Senator Ruane's contribution. As someone who was an early school leaver, not because of my dislike of school but because of my vehement dislike of doing homework, it is past time that we have that debate on the future of homework within our educational system. The reason I stand here is to address a deal the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, entered into with turf cutters from right across Ireland in 2011. I particularly want to focus on the turf cutters on three bogs - Cloonmoylan, Ardgraigue and Barroughter - in my own area of south-east Galway. In 2011, the NPWS agreed to pay turf bank owners €1,500 per year in compensation, index-linked, if they ceased cutting turf on their banks until alternative turf banks were found for them.”
“While I am very much aware that today's amendments do not address every concern that has been outlined by the campaign groups, I have no doubt that a number of the most problematic anomalies within the scheme will be rectified by the amendments before us today. This is a very complicated scheme and aims to assist people in what is a very difficult situation. Today's amendments are not a silver bullet that will satisfy all concerns but are indeed a very large step in the right direction. I commend these amendments to the House.”
“On this point, the bizarre situation of one particular semi-detached unit just outside Ballybofey in County Donegal comes to mind where one adjoining unit was approved for demolition under the scheme and its adjoining home was merely approved for remediation works. This particular amendment will help to avoid the recurrence of such bizarre anomalies within the scheme. Importantly, the main amendment before us today will also allow for retrospective grant payments on production of receipts or invoices. To date, more than €235 million has been spent on this scheme, and 3,022 homeowners are at various stages of the scheme. Counties Donegal, Clare, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo currently fall within the remit of the scheme, and this will now be extended to the Wexford and Fingal local authority areas.”
“The second amendment relates to facilitating owners of certain conjoined homes, for example, semi-detached or terraced homes, to enter the scheme at an earlier time thus potentially facilitating joint building works. In a number of conjoined dwellings, one dwelling may meet the damage threshold of the grant scheme and the other, although displaying visual signs, may not meet the damage threshold at the time. These amendments will allow in certain situations that the requirement for a dwelling to meet the damage threshold may be waived in order to facilitate early grant option on determination by the Housing Agency.”
“The first amendment relates to allowing for an exemption from the general principle of the scheme, for example, that houses be remediated in more or less the exact same location as they are now. Noting the difficulties that certain vulnerable relevant owners and family members may face in finding suitable alternative accommodation, this amendment, as the Minister just said, will now allow for construction of adjacent dwellings in limited circumstances. I feel this is a very important measure and will greatly reduce stress levels for a number of particularly vulnerable families during what will inevitably be a very difficult period.”
“These amendments will widen the group of relevant owners who can avail of the most recent increases in the grant scheme cap and rates. It will allow relevant owners who have incurred qualifying expenditure since 29 March 2024 that was unpaid due to them reaching the maximum scheme cap in place at that time of €420,000 to now be able to apply for their designated local authority to have a new remediation option grant amount determined in line with increased scheme cap rates. This amendment will also facilitate for married couples and those who are civil partners or are cohabiting to satisfy the definition of a relevant owner. The absence of this in the 2022 Act was proving problematic for a number of applicants to the scheme.”
“I thank the Minister and his officials for their presence. We are looking at the approval of a number of positive amendments to a Bill that was intended to relieve a large number of unfortunate homeowners, predominantly in the north west, from the financial burden of rectifying the disastrous consequences of defective concrete blocks used in the construction of their homes. From the outset, this well-intended Bill has been controversial, to say the least. A large number of people whom the Bill was intended to assist have again and again expressed great dissatisfaction at a number of key elements in the working of the scheme. Today's amendments aim to address a number of the root causes of that dissatisfaction. What is proposed here will significantly improve the workability of this scheme for many affected homeowners.”
“I recognise my colleague Councillor Paul Killilea, the councillor in the area, for all the work he has done on this issue.”
“However, ownership of Dungaire Castle has not yet been handed over to Galway County Council,. As a result, it has remained closed to the public. Galway County Council has made a request to the Department of tourism for funding to bring the castle and its surrounding areas up to standard before it takes ownership. That has not yet happened. I am here again today to call on the Minister for tourism to, as a matter of urgency and before the end of this year, facilitate a meeting with Fáilte Ireland, local elected representatives and Oireachtas Members from the area to discuss the provision of funding required by Galway County Council to take this important piece of historic and tourism infrastructure under the local authority's charge.”
“For the third time this year, I rise to bring attention to the continued closure of Dunguaire Castle in Kinvara. For those who are not familiar with Dunguaire, it is a tower house located by the roadside on the edge of Kinvara Bay, which is on the Wild Atlantic Way. It is the most photographed castle in Ireland. For the past three tourist seasons, Dunguaire Castle has remained closed. This has had knock-on consequences for the local tourism sector and businesses. Until now, Dunguaire Castle was under the ownership of the semi-State company, the Shannon Group. When the Shannon Group set about exiting its involvement in the tourism infrastructure sector, St. John's Castle and Bunratty Castle were handed over to the relevant local authorities in Limerick and Clare.”
“Over 100 years since the Shannon hydroelectric project and the building of Ardnacrusha, and the whole works that were carried out throughout the Shannon system, only 2% of our national electricity is generated at Ardnacrusha. While it is a renewable source of energy, the damage caused to the whole Shannon river catchment, including the lands and habitats surrounding the river, is immense. One hundred years since our then Taoiseach, W.T. Cosgrave, started the process of building this project, it is time that we, as a country, have a mature conversation about the future of Ardnacrusha, its environmental impact and the environmental long-term future for the Shannon Basin. We must ask whether the generation of 2% of our national electricity justifies all the ecological damage that is done throughout our largest river basin as a result.”
“Huge areas of land have been flooded, causing, as Senator Rabbitte mentioned, massive damage to crops and huge fodder losses, again and again. The callows were one of the last strongholds of the corncrake in Ireland. Due to the unseasonable flooding in summer 2009, the corncrake was deemed extinct in the area in 2010, and has not bred in the area since due to unseasonable summer floods that could have been mitigated had water been released in a timely manner on all the appropriate weirs. Senator Rabbitte, when a councillor at Galway County Council, and her colleague, Councillor Jimmy McClearn, frequently spoke on the need to dredge several channels in the Shannon Basin, and this amending legislation makes way for that and would facilitate the necessary dredging work.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his presence here. I compliment my colleagues, Senators Rabbitte and Daly, on what is very good and much-needed amending legislation. For sure, it is not a silver bullet to solve all flood problems around the Shannon basin, but it is a very definite step in the right direction. We all understand that, for reasons of navigation, summer water levels need to be maintained on the Shannon. There is a massive tourism industry built around that, with cruises, etc. Again and again, we have seen the reaction to heavy rainfall and the release of water has been too slow. This has had very serious consequences for the whole area of the Shannon, particularly the Shannon Callows in east Galway and Offaly.”
“We must remember that the need for the developer to provide this infrastructure in the first place comes from the State's failure to do so. As such, where homes are being delivered through these means in these villages, where they are so badly needed, no cost greater than the average Uisce Éireann residential wastewater connection fee should apply to the cost of developing these rural housing units. Of course, in many cases, this will require subsidisation but, without it, this admirable legislation will not achieve its goal. I commend the Minister of State on the work he has been doing to date along with the other Ministers in the Department of housing. I wish him well in the future.”
“I compliment the Minister of State on the plans that he and the Minister, Deputy Browne, brought to Cabinet last week for developer-led package plant solutions for these small unserviced towns and villages. As he will know, this is something I have long advocated for. I believe it is the only workable solution for the hundreds of small unserviced villages around Ireland. However, this solution must be financially viable. If, in order to meet EPA guidelines, Uisce Éireann specifies massively expensive wastewater treatment plants, rendering housing developments financially unviable to construct, we will have achieved nothing. If this solution is to work and achieve its goal, the cost to the developer of providing on-site wastewater infrastructure must be capped at a set national price per unit delivered.”
“Here we have what I believe to be an example of funds being made available to Uisce Éireann only for its ability to deliver to be found wanting. The east Galway main drainage scheme, an extensive plan that would serve Oranmore, Athenry, Claregalway and Kilcolgan along with Craughwell and Clarinbridge, which I have just spoken about, is greatly supported by our local authority, Galway County Council. However, this plan, whose delivery is listed among Uisce Éireann's aims, continues to remain nothing more than an aspiration. I have just spoken about four of the 14 settlements in my local area. The remaining ten villages, which include my village of Ardrahan, remain unserviced and without any hope of being serviced in the short to medium term.”
“This river was once renowned for its salmon stocks and its large average sea trout sizes but, unfortunately, many parts of the river are now better known for the smell that comes from them during the summer months. Clarinbridge is a coastal village where the Clarin river enters Galway Bay at the world famous St. George's oyster beds. This village is equally desperately in need of wastewater treatment. Over two years ago, the two villages I have just spoken of, Craughwell and Clarinbridge, were selected for inclusion among 11 pilot project schemes for municipal wastewater treatment plants nationally. A combined figure of over €20 million was allocated for the development of plants in these two villages. More than two years on, we have seen absolutely no progress.”
“Nowhere is this more evident than in my area of south County Galway. There are 14 towns and villages in the south Galway local electoral area. Of these, only two, Gort and Kinvara, are serviced by municipal wastewater treatment facilities. I have recently been informed that the treatment plant in Gort is operating at capacity, which will have a serious knock-on effect in the context of the development of the town. The next two largest settlements in this district are Craughwell and Clarinbridge. Both villages remain unserviced by municipal wastewater treatment plants despite their rapid growth during the first decade of this century. The Dunkellin river runs through Craughwell village.”
“I thank the Minister of State very much for his presence here today for this discussion on the very important topic of water quality and Uisce Éireann. It is critically important to point out that all national water quality sampling and publications in the past three years, particularly in 2025, have shown that we are moving in the right direction and that water quality is on the up nationally. However, these improvements are largely attributable to improvements in the efficiency of the use of agricultural nitrates and phosphorous, along with general improvements in the containment of agricultural pollutants. When it comes to wastewater facilities in our villages, rural towns, larger provincial towns and cities, we have a long way to go to get to where we urgently need to be.”
“I also compliment the Minister of State on the increased funding that he has secured for the management of our national parks.”
“Our seventh national park, Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí, is situated both onshore and offshore at the Dingle peninsula. This park includes some of our most iconic islands, marine reefs and maritime sites. Vulnerable habitats for seabirds, wintering water birds, whales and dolphins are protected within this national park, as well as the world famous Sceilg Mhichíl and its ancient monastic settlement. All of these parks form the jewels in the crown that is the Irish countryside. They fall under the protection of the National Parks and Wildlife Services. While I may not always agree with everything this State body does in terms of the suppression of the tradition of cutting turf in many of our smaller bogs, I compliment the NPWS on the management of our eight magnificent national parks.”
“Moving to the Acting Chairperson's own county, the Wicklow Mountains National Park is our only functioning national park located on the eastern side of the country and is our largest national park. This 23,000 ha park, which is located on the doorstep of our capital city, offers walking and hiking opportunities as well as a chance for Dublin people to escape the urban world. This park has stunning beauty with lakes, woodlands and valleys, as well as St. Kevin's monastic settlement at Glendalough. After many decades of absence from Irish skies, the red kite is now a common sight again over the Wicklow national park. This reintroduction project has been one of the real success stories of raptor reintroduction into Ireland in recent years.”
“Further south is the world famous Killarney National Park with its 10,000 ha of rugged beauty from the high peaks of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks to the lakes of Killarney. As well as the stunning beauty of the landscape, this park is home to the last surviving indigenous herd of Irish red deer. All other herds in the country descend from deer stock introduced into the country in the past. The Reenadinna Woods, which is western Europe's largest area of yew woodland, together with vast areas of flat peatlands, deciduous forests and grassland, form not only a great spectacle for the tourists, which is very important, but is also a vital habitat for so many of our indigenous species that must be treasured.”
“Prehistoric monuments dot the landscape in this area, as well as the stone structures from our more recent past and the many thousands of kilometres of stone walls that frame the rare wildflower meadows in this region. I have on a number of occasions in the past in this House expressed my extreme concern about the disappearance of our stone walls in the west of Ireland. We have some very flawed regulations within some of our Department of agriculture environmental schemes that in many areas prohibit the maintenance of stone walls and financially reward the complete removal of neglected stone walls for their replacement with hedges. This is something I intend to address further in the House in the coming weeks.”
“Connemara National Park is an integral member of the Irish Native Rare Breed Society and has dedicated great effort to the promotion and protection of domesticated livestock such as Connemara ponies, moiled cows, cladoir sheep, Galway sheep and old Irish goats. This is very important conservation work indeed and work we must support and facilitate in every way. At my back door is the Burren National Park in north Clare and south Galway. This 1,800 ha park sits within Ireland’s most unique landscape. The limestone pavement of the Burren is Europe's largest and most magnificent karst landscape and a place I am very proud and happy to call my home. The landscape of the Burren has been home to people for millennia, with successive generations leaving the marks of their culture, traditions and agriculture on the landscape.”
“With one of the last intact active blanket bog systems in western Europe, this very special park forms an important habitat for a number of rare species of flora and fauna such as Greenland white-fronted geese, red grouse and otters. This park also showcases some of the darkest, most pristine night skies in the world and is officially certified as a gold-tier-standard international dark sky park. In my home county of Galway, we have the 2,000 ha Connemara National Park. Located within the magnificent Twelve Bens mountain range, this park is a haven for hill walkers who visit from all over the world.”
“The 15,484 ha of Glenveagh National Park in Donegal support a number of important habitat types, ranging from pristine rivers and lakes to some of the highest mountain peaks in the country. This park is home to a number of plant and animal species of national and international importance and hosts some of our best habitat areas for species such as arctic alpines, mosses, liver worts, golden plovers, peregrine falcons and a large number of rare orchid species. Wild Nephin National Park in Mayo, which becomes Mayo Dark Sky Park at night, covers 15,000 ha of unspoiled wilderness and is Ireland’s largest area without human inhabitants.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I compliment him on the passion he shows for his role, which is clear for all to see. As Fine Gael’s spokesperson on biodiversity and heritage in the Seanad and as a lover of the natural world, I truly believe that the importance of national parks is not to be underestimated. Approximately 1.4% of Ireland’s total land mass falls within our seven current functioning national parks. That is a total area of 98,436 ha. By European standards, this is a relatively small proportion of our land mass. However, our seven functioning national parks cover and protect a huge and diverse range of landscapes, terrain, flora and fauna. Within our seven national parks we have 25 species of mammal, 400 bird species, in excess of 12,000 insect species and more than 4,000 plant species.”
“Higher education institutions currently require 50% in grant funding in order to make the development of student accommodation viable. We all know that the provision of student accommodation is the quickest, most effective and efficient way to take pressure off the private home rental market in our university cities. However, technological universities cannot currently borrow from this source for student accommodation due to their specific borrowing frameworks. I urge the Minister of State to ensure that this anomaly is rectified as a matter of urgency. It is important to note that the HFA is a self-financing body and the cost of this increase is not being met by the Exchequer. On behalf of the Fine Gael group, I express my support for this Bill.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the detailed and concise way he has laid out the Bill to us. As Fine Gael spokesperson on housing in the Seanad, I must say I am fully supportive of the Bill. Currently, a cap of €12 billion on borrowing is applicable to the Housing Finance Agency. What we have here is a proposal to increase this by €1.5 billion to €13.5 billion. If we do not make this increase imminently, it is envisaged that the agency's statutory borrowing limit will be reached by the first week of November. This funding source provides advance funds to local authorities and approved housing bodies for the delivery of housing for the people in our society who are most in need of housing. Critically, this funding source also provides essential funding to the higher education sector for the development of student accommodation.”
“It was a flawed scheme in many ways, though, in that the older farmers in question were forbidden from staying involved in the day-to-day management and working on the farms they had run throughout their working lives.”
“I am delighted to see the Department now has people based in Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Abu Dhabi, Geneva, London, Mexico, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Seoul and Washington DC, all trying to expand the markets for our premium products. I am delighted to see that we are working ahead of Mercosur on that to identify potential outlets for any loss of sales that might occur as a result of this agreement. The next thing I want to touch on is generation renewal. Back in the 1990s, we introduced the farm retirement scheme, which was progressive at the time. It was a means of encouraging older farmers to step aside and make way for the next generation to come in.”
“Between 2014 and 2022, that was reduced to €7.6 million and from 2023 to 2027, it was further reduced to €4.1 million. LEADER is one of the few sources of funding for small community projects in many parts of rural Ireland and I sincerely hope that this funding will be protected in the new CAP. Touching on the development of markets, as beef farmers, we all have a fear of what might potentially happen to the industry due to the Mercosur agreement but it is very positive to see the Department of agriculture combating this in advance to try to replace any lost sale of beef from our sector elsewhere. We provide a premium product here in Ireland and what we are looking at potentially importing through Mercosur is not that premium product.”
“An independent valuer assigned by the Department of agriculture came out and valued those animals at between €3,100 and €4,200. A maximum value could be paid to that farmer of €3,000 per animal. For the 14 animals in question, that farmer was at a loss of €10,500 compared to what he would have received in the mart. That is a serious flaw in our valuation and compensation system and something I urge the Minister to look into as soon as possible. The next thing I want to have a look at is rural development and, in particular, LEADER funding. To date, LEADER funding has come from Pillar 2 of the CAP. In the LEADER tranche from 2024 to 2027, the project budget nationally is €240 million. My own area in east Galway, between 2007 and 2013, received €13 million in project funding.”
“The introduction of a national deer cull is a very positive step to that but we have a huge amount of work to do there. Keeping the deer population in check nationally is something that was neglected for many years and there is a massive body of work to be done to bring that back to where it should be. Regarding badger vaccination, I am living and farming in a badger vaccinating area and bovine tuberculosis numbers have never been so high. It appears that it is not working and is something we need to reconsider or re-examine. Moving onto something else that my colleague touched on regarding tuberculosis is the compensation or valuation of the affected animals. I have in front of me a valuation slip from just this past August from a farmer in County Clare who had 14 continental cattle tuberculosis reactors.”
“This, as the Minister will know, is a huge cause of stress for the affected farming families. Not only is it a financial stress but there is also the anxiety associated with having a reactor in one's herd. The loss of milk revenues to the dairy industry alone was estimated at 145 million litres in 2024. This would add up to an approximate loss of €70 million at the farm gate, and approximately €110 million of a loss in export revenue. A total of €100 million in excess from the national Exchequer was spent tackling bovine tuberculosis in 2024. An additional €8 million was spent by farmers themselves on their own herd testing measures. We are talking about huge losses due to bovine tuberculosis and one of the key actions identified as a means of tackling that is a reduction in the impact of wildlife on the spread of bovine tuberculosis.”
“The Minister is very welcome here today and I thank him for coming to the Seanad this evening. Like my colleague Senator Brady, I believe this is a very positive motion with largely positive amendments. There are just a few points in the motion I would like to touch on. No more than my colleague Senator Brady, the first thing I would like to touch on is the bovine tuberculosis action plan. In 2024, as the Minister will know, over 41,600 reactors were disclosed in Ireland, which was a 44% increase when compared with 2023. This was on top of a 24% increase between 2022 and 2023. If this trend continues, reactor numbers will increase unchecked into the future. More than 6,000 farm families were affected by these bovine tuberculosis outbreaks in 2024.”
“Over three months ago in this House I called on the Minister to sign an activity requiring consent, ARC, to allow these law-abiding families back onto their bogs to save their turf that had already been cut and laid out on the turf banks. This has not been done. The winter is approaching fast. The time to save this turf has unfortunately passed. Elderly and vulnerable people in my constituency are facing into a winter with empty turf sheds and, in many cases, without other means of purchasing fuel because it simply makes no long-term sense to them and they do not want to sell the turbary rights of their land to the NPWS. This should be their prerogative. This is indeed a shameful situation and it must be remedied in advance of next spring.”
“On average, a house that is heated by turf and uses a turf-fuelled range for cooking daily will require around six hoppers of turf for the year. The cost to a homeowner of hiring a contractor to cut these six hoppers of turf is approximately €600. In the absence of having access to the turf, in our local south-east Galway fuel depot the cost of replacing these six hoppers of turf with the equivalent energy in alternative solid fuel such as green willow logs and smokeless coal is approximately €7,540. Subtract from this the fuel allowance of €924 annually and this leaves an annual fuel cost for heating and cooking of €6,610. In as little as four years the compensation for walking away from an intergenerational right to cut turf on the family's bog will have been spent on alternative solid fuels.”
“As the weather gets colder and the long nights approach, I would again like to bring attention to the turf that continues to lie wet on the banks of three south-east Galway bogs. On Ardgraigue, Barroughter and Cloonmoylan bogs, families have been prevented from returning to save the turf by a High Court injunction at the behest of the NPWS earlier this year. These families now face into the winter with empty turf sheds. The NPWS has offered turf bank owners a once-off payment of €24,000 to walk away from the historic right to cut turf in order to facilitate the rewetting of these bogs. However, in excess of 40 families have declined this offer, and for good reason. It simply does not make financial sense.”
“It currently takes two weeks to get that licence. I call for measures to be put in place now, before next spring arrives, so derogation licences for the release of individual Asian hornets for the purpose of tracking their parent colonies may be acquired retrospectively. Thus, whoever is carrying out the process will be able to get on with their work and obtain the licence afterwards. It is very important that no time be lost in this process.”
“After winter and in the following spring, each of these can begin its own new colony. How many queens left the colony in Cork to begin new hornet colonies next year? What are we going to be dealing with next spring and in the early summer because of our slow response to the first colony this summer? The next thing I want to do is not look back but forward to next year in respect of derogation licences. In Ireland, the release of any specimen of a non-native or invasive species can be carried out only with a delegation received through the NPWS. Hornets’ nests are located by catching an individual hornet, putting a radio signaller on its back and letting it fly to its mother colony so it can be tracked; however, it cannot be released with that radio device on its back without a derogation license from the NPWS.”
“I rise today to discuss a topic of particular interest to me as a commercial beekeeper, and that is the response to the positive identification of an Asian hornet nest in Cork during recent months. After the positive identification of an individual Asian hornet, it took two weeks to find the location of the nest using the traditional triangulation method. Now, while that method did work, the process could have, and should have, been gone through in a matter of an hour had the most up-to-date Robor Nature radio signal technology been at hand and employed. After the nest was located, its destruction was delayed by a further staggering three weeks due to the lack of appropriate expertise and PPE. In the late summer and early autumn months, each colony can send out up to 300 gynes or queens.”
“Without safeguards for independent merchants, this regulation risks creating a dangerous monopoly in the veterinary medicine distribution sector. On my own behalf and my Fine Gael colleague and Councillor Michael Boyle from Donegal County Council, I urge the Minister for agriculture to postpone the implementation of these regulations and conduct a full and independent review of the economic and social impact before regrettable and permanent damage is done to this sector.”
“However, as a person who has worked my whole life in the cattle farming sector and administered these medications on thousands of occasions, I assure this House that we as farmers are not in the habit of overusing these expensive medications and do not use them when they are not necessary. Indeed, it quite on the contrary. I fear the inevitable price rise, which will result from the gifting of a monopoly on the sale of these crucial antiparasitic products could result in their under use leading to severe animal welfare concerns. I have great fear that it could also lead to an increase in the purchasing of these medicines through black market sources. While the goals of health and EU compliance are important, implementation must reflect Irish rural reality.”
“The Independent Licensed Merchants Association, which represents 350 of these smaller merchants nationwide, warns that only 38 of its members can remain in business under these new rules. That is a potential loss of nearly 90% of this industry. This is a choice that is anti-competitive. The justification given to this change is that we need to combat antimicrobial resistance by ensuring responsible use of medicines through mandatory prescriptions, while also improving traceability and oversight via the national veterinary prescription system which requires all prescriptions to be on a central controlled database.”