784. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department will provide the necessary funding to increase the number of specialist food detection dogs to be deployed at ports and airports nationwide. [36836/26]

My Department continuously reviews its various arrangements regarding import control checks, of which the use of food detector dogs is one important element. Extensive manual checks and scanning equipment are also used at ports and airports to monitor for illegal imports of food products. There are currently no plans to expand the food detector dog service. My Department provides funding on an ongoing annual basis for this service.