Questions

791. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied that, in circumstances where breed societies in Ireland effectively have only a single designated third-party provider of performance recording and genetic-evaluation services, those societies many with limited legal and financial resources are not placed at a disadvantage that could compel them to accept contractual t…

792. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the Livestock Breeding, Production and Trade Division (LBPTD) of his Department is the designated section responsible for the oversight and approval functions set out in regulation (EU) 2016/1012, including the approval and ongoing monitoring of breeding bodies and breeding programmes in accordance with articles four, eight and 12 of …

793. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way in which officials from his Department who are appointed to governance roles within designated third-party breeding organisations such as organisations (details supplied) are able to fulfil their fiduciary duties of independence, impartiality, loyalty to the State, accountability, due care and transparency; the way these official…

794. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if organisations (details supplied) are legally structured as non-State, independent entities that is, as a co-operative, company limited by guarantee or similar, rather than as public bodies or State-controlled organisations; whether this legal status is the reason that under the domestic transposition of Regulation (EU) 2016/1012 he ha…

795. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his position on the carbon border adjustment mechanism, which is planned to come into effect at the start of 2026, given the impact it will have on fertiliser costs for Irish farmers; if it’s implementation will be going ahead as planned in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71933/25]

796. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide an update on the Howth Harbour dredging project; the timeframe for the commencement of dredging works; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71948/25]

797. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason his Department abolished the agricultural attache post in London, contrary to his Department’s management board July 2025 decision, and replace it with a more junior grade administrative officer; and the way in which this is this consistent with the UK’s importance as Ireland’s largest agricultural food export market and ongoing…

798. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount his Department has spent on translation services from a company (details supplied) for the years 2020 to 2025 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72060/25]

799. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress made over the past 12 months on each of his Department’s Programme for Government commitments, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72201/25]

800. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when an application for an EIA screening decision will be approved (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72205/25]

801. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to test all animal products entering Ireland for pathogens, in light of the recent rise in bluetongue disease cases in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72327/25]

802. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to respond to matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72403/25]

803. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps his Department has taken on foot of the action in the ESB Networks Winter 2025 Grid Resilience Plan, regarding a "co-operative effort between ESB Networks, Coillte and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to identify at-risk segments of the network for priority remediation"; and if he will make a statement on …

502. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding the publication of Horse Racing Ireland’s 2024 annual report; the timeline for its publication; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70966/25]

503. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department, and agencies under the Department’s remit, purchase data on the habits and activities of social media users and other platforms; if so, the reasons for purchasing such data; the amount spent in 2024 and 2025 year to date on such expenditure, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70857/25]

504. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has approved vaccines for bluetongue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70902/25]

505. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has begun vaccinating cattle and sheep against bluetongue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70903/25]

506. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied that Ireland has enough vaccines against bluetongue to prevent a widescale outbreak in cattle and sheep populations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70904/25]

507. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has a contingency plan in place in the event of an outbreak of bluetongue in County Down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70905/25]

508. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his engagement with his Northern Ireland counterpart regarding the confirmed cases of bluetongue in County Down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70906/25]

509. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions his Department is taking to monitor the spread of bluetongue; if any forecasting exercise has been undertaken by his Department in relation to the likelihood of spread across the island of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70907/25]

510. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the action his Department is taking in view of the fact that the presence of bluetongue virus (BTV-3) has been identified and confirmed in a herd of cattle in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70967/25]

511. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding the publication of Horse Racing Ireland’s 2024 annual report; if there is a timeline for its publication; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70976/25]

512. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether a conflict of interest exists when public representatives who own, part-own or otherwise have a financial interest in a registered racehorse or racing greyhound vote in favour of budgetary allocations to both the horse and greyhound racing industries (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. …

513. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department considers the exhaustion of the permit quota for dairy farm workers, at a time when labour demand in the sector is especially high, to pose a risk to farm productivity and food output in the spring; and if so, the actions his Department propose to support farmers under labour pressure. [71066/25]