Yesterday's news of a case of BSE found in an Irish animal has halted valuable exports of beef to the Chinese market. This could not come at a worse time for Irish agriculture, which has been hit from every direction both from Europe but more alarmingly, from our own Government, which continues to treat farmers like environmental terrorists. This is from the farmers' mouths at recent meetings I have been attending. The fact that this case of BSE was caught shows the excellent surveillance system we have in this country, which surely gives comfort to the 70 countries to which we export. However, the last time we had a BSE animal in 2020, the Chinese did not allow the Irish to export beef to China for at least three years. What measures has this Government in place this time to have the Irish back exporting beef to China, a very valuable market for Irish agriculture, as soon as this issue is cleared up? Irish farmers cannot wait three years before the market reopens again.

It is extremely disappointing for our farmers and our food industry that a case of atypical BSE has been detected. We export over 90% of the beef we produce, so our reputation for safe and sustainable production is crucial. The animal was ten and a half years old and was identified during the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's ongoing systemic surveillance of fallen animals. The animal did not enter the food or feed chain so there is no public health risk associated with this occurrence. Atypical BSE is a rare spontaneous event that may occur in any bovine population and, indeed, in most mammals. It is not related to feed contamination. Ireland has been granted World Organisation for Animal Health negligible risk status for BSE. This is the lowest risk rating available. The identification of a single case does not affect our rating as being at the lowest risk so that is encouraging. It is disappointing that the Chinese market is temporarily closed to us. As the Deputy knows, it is only a small proportion of our export market, so I do not think it will have an impact on price or on other issues. Certainly, however, we will work with the Chinese control authority to try to have that ban lifted as soon as possible. We have no indications that any of the 70 other countries that we export to are going to follow suit.