I will read the note on privilege first and then go to the agenda. I bring to the attention of the meeting that witnesses giving evidence from within the parliamentary precincts are protected by absolute privilege in respect of the evidence they give to the committee. This means that a witness has a full defence in any defamation action for anything said at a committee meeting. However, witnesses are expected not to abuse this privilege and may be directed to cease giving evidence on an issue at the Chair's direction. Witnesses should follow the direction of the Chair in this regard. They are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that, as is reasonable, no adverse commentary should be made against an identifiable third person or entity.

Witnesses who are to give evidence from a location outside the parliamentary precincts are asked to note that they may not benefit from the same level of immunity from legal proceedings as witnesses giving evidence from within the parliamentary precincts, and may consider it appropriate to take legal advice on the matter. Privilege against defamation does not apply to the publication by a witness outside of the proceedings held by the committee of any matters arising from the proceedings.

Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against either a person outside the Houses or an official, either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. Parliamentary privilege is considered to apply to the utterances of members participating online in a committee meeting where the participation is from within the parliamentary precincts. Members may not participate online in a public meeting from outside the parliamentary precincts, and any attempt to do so will result in members having their online access removed.

In the second part of this meeting we will continue to examine biosecurity. We will hear from the following representatives of the Native Irish Honey Bee Society: Ms Loretta Neary, chairperson; Mr. Colm O'Neill, committee member and semi-commercial beekeeper; and Professor Grace McCormack, independent scientific adviser. We have received the society's opening statement and we will give the witnesses five minutes to read it, or a synopsis of it, into the record. Just to explain, our members who are TDs are voting in the Dáil, as can be seen. Once that vote is over they will be rejoining us. Tá fáilte romhaibh go léir.

Go raibh maith agaibh. A Chathaoirligh, we thank you and the members for inviting us to contribute. We especially appreciate the opportunity to discuss the topic of biosecurity in the context of the threats facing our native Irish honeybees. The many dangers facing our bees, including serious and significant biosecurity threats, are grave and threaten the very survival of this unique Irish ecotype. Time is running out. Legislation is needed urgently.

The native Irish honeybee is a precious asset. It is part of Ireland’s natural and cultural heritage, having arrived on the island thousands of years before our earliest ancestors and adapting over time to our climate and environment. Having so adapted, the native Irish honeybee is now recognised as a distinct ecotype. That means it has unique genetics, body and behaviour that lead to superb resilience in our cooler, wetter climate. This allows it to survive and even prosper where other subspecies do not. This is a benefit for Ireland’s beekeepers for the production of sustainable honey crops in adverse conditions and is one of the reasons 90% of Irish beekeepers highly value and rely exclusively on the native Irish honeybee.

Bees are crucial to the sustainability and success of Irish agriculture. Our honeybee belongs to a subspecies which was once common across northern Europe. The latest IUCN red list places the honeybee as endangered in the EU27. The heritage, quality and reputation of Irish honey matches that of our beef and dairy and a pot of Irish honey is a reflection of the local landscape, flora and microclimate as well as the skill of the beekeeper. The manner of its production is also unique. Industrial-scale production, which is the norm across much of Asia, the US and Europe, is unknown in Ireland. Most Irish honey is produced by small-scale beekeepers. The average beekeeper here is a hobbyist and prioritises the quality of honey and the welfare of bees over the scale of production. It is a unique reputational asset and in addition to the jobs sustained by honey production in distribution, retail, farmers’ markets, equipment supply, education and ecotourism – which is an up and coming thing – beekeeping is a valuable source of supplementary rural income for many of Ireland’s 4,500 registered beekeepers. Native honeybee queen rearing is also an important add-on for some but it is simply not feasible when neighbouring bees are non-native.

This asset and the heritage that goes with it is now gravely at risk due to the importation of other subspecies and hybrid honeybees into Ireland. These bring with them new types of pests, parasites and pathogens, not to mention the Asian hornet. Tropilaelaps mites are among the most serious emerging threats to honeybees worldwide. Once established, tropilaelaps mites reproduce rapidly. They cause extensive brood damage and can lead to swift colony collapse. They are equivalent in size to the full stop on a piece of paper and this means they are particularly difficult to detect in colonies and infestations are usually only noticed when high colony losses are investigated. Our current biosecurity measures will not cope. Hybridisation is a very serious issue but the diseases have now become almost more of a problem. It is clear we face the prospect of the loss through hybridisation and diseases of a native ecotype of Irish and European significance. Furthermore, the hybrid varieties emerging show low resilience and this poses a serious risk to wild bee populations as well as to Irish beekeeping and honey production in future.

The solution is in plain sight. Passing the Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021 will remove this threat, protect a vital element of our natural heritage and support the future of wild bee populations, beekeeping and honey production as source of rural income. It will halt hybridisation of native honeybees. Politically, this Bill has full cross-party backing. It will be a decisive step in the protection of our natural genetic heritage and diversity. The measure will also support domestic honey production and thereby benefit rural incomes and food safety. It will help to protect the native Irish honeybee from biosecurity threats in the near future. It will also be consistent with national and local protective legislation introduced elsewhere in Europe. For example, the entire country of Slovenia has a ban on the importation of non-native honeybees, as do parts of Denmark, Belgium, Croatia, Italy, the UK, Bulgaria and Romania. The trade impact of banning imports is negligible as the value of imported bees and the number of beekeepers buying them are low. A handful of importing beekeepers are therefore having a huge effect on the other beekeepers and the honey produced.

Irish beekeepers have been working to protect and conserve our native honeybee for over 35 years. The case for protection has been scientifically proven. The Department of agriculture and the NPWS are fully aware of the scientific evidence underlying the risks. The legislation required to do so has been drafted and debated at length. It has the backing of all the beekeeping organisations in Ireland. After our discussions we ask the committee to make a positive recommendation to the Government so it will urgently enact the Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill. The time to act is now, before it is too late. Go raibh maith agaibh.

We will commence with Senator Boyhan. Before that, the witnesses might help me to understand the position. The Bill went through the Seanad in its entirety. The TDs are not here at the moment but they will be back. Has the group got on to any TD to resurrect the Bill in the Dáil? They are speaking to Senators now and it has gone through the Seanad with full support. It needs to be resurrected in the Dáil. Is there anyone who is prepared to do that?

We have not found anyone. We have generally asked but we have not specifically asked.

Perhaps there will be the opportunity when the TDs return. I call Senator Boyhan.

I thank Ms Neary, Ms McCormack and Mr. O'Neill for coming in. I thank them for the comprehensive opening statement, which is a summary of the already detailed paper submitted to the committee in relation to the Native Irish Honey Bee Society and its work. As the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach said, the Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021, which was very much driven by the former Green Party Senator, Vincent P. Martin, went through all Stages in the Seanad. It was rigorously pursued and analysed. Many of the members of the Native Irish Honey Bee Society were there and I met many of them. There were no amendments to the legislation and the decision on it was unanimous. It then arrived in the Dáil, and it has sat there since. I looked at the chart today. It was due to advance to Committee Stage between March and May 2025, but instead it has sat there. In a way, it has been left there. It appears to be dormant. There does not seem to be anyone raising the question. I took a look at the parliamentary questions, and I did not see any parliamentary questions tabled for this period, so suddenly this issue dipped. The witnesses will have an opportunity to talk to the TDs later.

I want to say as a Senator, and there are other Senators here, that the Bill had a good airing in the Seanad. It was teased out and was unanimously agreed by all Senators from all parties and none. I think that is positive because the witnesses are talking to the converted. I want to say two or three things. I acknowledge that the society has 4,500 registered beekeepers. That is a significant number of people. I will single out a colleague of mine, Independent Councillor Michael O'Meara from Tipperary, who I think is a member of the society. He is certainly a very strong advocate for the bees and he has kept me on my toes in relation to it. I know he is tuned in here today, so I acknowledge his contribution to the debate and to pursuing this matter.

We are talking about this issue in the particular context of biosecurity, which was referenced by Ms Neary. Another point that was made was that, as we know, bees are vital for the sustainability of our agricultural sector. That is critically important. We also know that pollinators contribute very significantly to the production of our fruit, vegetables and other crops and, indeed, to our biodiversity. These are very positive things. This is critically important for farmers, and rightly so. I am glad it is at the very centre of the work of the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food. We do not necessarily deal with the marine in this part of our work. This issue is very important. I have just a few comments.

I think the witnesses are right when they say they intend to pursue this. The reoccurring theme in the opening statement, in the written submission to us and in the society members' contacts with me is the need to get the Protection of the Native Honey Bee Bill 2021 active in the Dáil. That is a matter for the Dáil Deputies, but we can have influence on that because we have colleagues who sit around the Cabinet table too. Let us see if we can do that. I am interested in hearing Ms Neary, Ms McCormack and Mr. O'Neill talk about best practice. I want to talk about the international experience. Romania was referred to along with the other countries involved. Slovenia was mentioned in particular. There are also other countries. How does best practice operate and what lessons have been learned? What can we apply to our Irish situation? I am converted. I am fully committed and I voted for the Bill. I would, though, like the society representatives to share for the record of the committee their research or knowledge in terms of best practice on the international stage in relation to the countries mentioned. I thank them.

I thank the Senator. We mentioned Slovenia particularly because that country made it a condition of joining the EU that it would be able to have an import ban so no honeybees were allowed to be imported, and because it was a condition of joining the EU, it was accepted. We understand that since then, both Romania and Bulgaria have actually done a similar thing. Italy may be different from Ireland - I do not know this very well - in that it has regional authorities. Particular regions in Italy have also banned imports. That same thing happens throughout places like Denmark. The Senator probably knows that the island of Colonsay, off Scotland, is a haven for the native black bee.

Yes.

The Isle of Man is varroa-free, and it gives it a different status. Unlike these other countries, Ireland still has a huge pure population of our native honeybees. We are alone in Europe in that. I have a map with me.

Yes. I have seen the map.

The map shows us that originally the bee we have, the subspecies Apis mellifera mellifera, stretched from the west of Ireland right up through the south of Scandinavia, across to Russia, and down to the Alps and the Pyrenees. All of that population was the black bee that we know.

What are the most important and significant lessons that we could apply in our Irish situation from, shall we say, Belgium, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Italy? Is there anything that Ms Neary can think of quickly which had a profound effect and drove the agenda?

Well, the legislation is what we need. We need to have the Bill enacted to put in place a ban. We need a ban, and we need very severe penalties for anybody who does not adhere to it. We need that to be put in place. Not only will it stop the hybridisation, but more importantly nowadays, this tropilaelaps mite, which has now come to the edge of Europe, is on its way and is going to be in before we know it because our biosecurity is not sufficient to stop it.

Okay. That is clear and I am clear about that. That is great and very helpful, and we are already committed. Certainly, the Senators have already committed in this regard. In terms of the scientific and legal review, we know the Department undertook some consideration and drafted a report. I do not know if that has been published. I certainly have not seen it. In a few lines, a few sentences, what is Ms Neary's view on the scientific and legal review? We are hearing from the Government that its findings may, only may, present an obstacle? Can she share that with us?

I thank the Senator. The time has elapsed.

I do not see that there are any obstacles. We were fully in favour of the scientific review happening. We were advised that it had been done on the advice of the Attorney General. We are ready and willing. We definitely expect that it is going to vindicate our point of view, so we cannot wait for it to be published. It is not published as yet, but we can talk about that later.

I thank Ms Neary very much.

I thank the witnesses. I, too, am a beekeeper. I am involved in a very small way, but I still am a beekeeper like my colleague, Senator P.J. Murphy. I fully support everything the society does. It would be remiss of me not to mention Daphne Howard and Richard, who are neighbours of mine in Longford who got me started up.

Regarding biosecurity and the honeybee, I would like the witnesses to go through the dangers, including disease. What are we in danger of importing?

Regarding the threat on the biosecurity side, we already have a number of diseases, viruses, pests and pathogens that our bees are subject to here. To an extent, our native bees, having got used to a lot of those, have some resilience towards those threats. A number of us beekeepers are actually managing our bees treatment-free. In other words, we are managing to do so without the use of chemical or physical methods to reduce the dangers from those risks.

When importations are taking place, different variants of the same diseases and viruses that we already have can come in. Our bees have no experience of those variants and therefore have no resistance to them. That can have devastating impacts when those new, novel variants arrive. Added to that, we have the threat of the Asian hornet, which the committee is well aware of. We can see how the public in general rallied around with that, because it was seen as not just threatening the bees, but all pollinators and insects. If the hive beetle, which is in Italy at the moment, were to arrive into Ireland, it would have a similar effect to the Asian hornet arriving here. It would devastate colonies and put beekeepers under severe pressure to survive as beekeepers.

The knock-on impact on smallholders and smaller beekeepers would be great. If the tropilaelaps mite came in from the eastern part of Europe, from countries such as Georgia, it would have a much bigger impact than varroa had on us when it arrived in 1998. Varroa typically took three to five years to get to the level within a colony where the colony collapsed because it could not survive with the mite load. With the tropilaelaps, the evidence is that within one season the population of tropilaelaps mites in the colony would rise to such a level that the colony would collapse and die out.

At the moment there are no specific chemical treatments available in the world specifically targeted at tropilaelaps. Some of the varroa chemical treatments that are around will work to some extent against them but none of them can be put on while the bees are actively collecting nectar or while there is a honey crop being gathered. If they were to be used, they could only be used in the autumn or winter. The evidence is that if tropilaelaps is in the colony, it will not be there in the autumn because within months the colony will have collapsed. We are at the stage in the United States at the moment where the chemical treatments that are available for the varroa are no longer effective because the varroa has built up resistance to them. There are no chemical treatments that are 80% effective plus against the mites. Tropilaelaps will have the same impact on beekeeping here as what is going on in the United States.

To clarify a couple of things for people who would not understand the native bee, it is a native black bee that has a very timid nature compared to some of the bees that are imported. I have handled the native black bee without gloves and people do not get stung if they are not in any way nervous with them. The imported bee has a tendency to produce a lot more honey, not of the same quality, but also has a tendency to have a violent strain. Is that it?

When the non-native bees are imported, they are usually docile enough for handling for the first year. When they reproduce and send out virgin queens to be mated with the local bees, hybridising the offspring, the aggression comes with that crossing. This cannot be controlled because unlike cattle and other livestock, the bees mate between 3 m and 30 m up in the air and there is no control over it whatsoever. Add to this the polyandry method of mating, whereby multiple drones mate with the queen, and we end up with the mix even if there is only one non-native drone out of 15 drones that mate with the queen. The hybridisation that occurs and the population of half-sisters that have this cross in them will bring aggression into the colony. This is where we lose out on docility as we call it.

We are unique at this moment in time as Europe goes, even though we have some imports, if we really want to protect our honeybee. We are probably one of the last bee colonies or islands that really has a native black bee. We really should be looking at this. I know people can bring in a queen in a matchbox if they go on holidays to import them here and there is probably very little we can do. If anybody wants to get a bee in, they will probably get it in illegally. What I am saying is that there is an emphasis on us as a Government and as elected representatives to really and truly protect something that is native and unique to our atmosphere and our biodiversity. I have seen at first hand the amount of clover in meadows thanks to the local bees. I ask the witnesses for a quick comment on this, if they would not mind.

We cannot block the importation of illegal drugs so how are we going to block the illegal importation of honeybees? This is not possible. However, making it illegal would put some sort of a blockage on it. It would stop other countries sending them in. At the moment, importations of honeybees have to be accompanied by a health certificate from the distributor in the other country. This would no longer be available if an importation ban were in place. They would be less available commercially on the Internet or wherever for people to go and buy.

I asked a question at the outset and I just want to pick up on it again. It may be something that the committee might pursue. The Bill sponsored by Vincent P. Martin, a former Senator, went through the Seanad and had started its progress through the Dáil. It is just sitting there. If nobody else out there is prepared to resurrect it in the Dáil, maybe it is something we as a committee could pursue or, perhaps, get the Cathaoirleach to do it on behalf of the committee. It is oven ready. It got unanimous support in the Seanad. The general election stymied it a small bit in the Dáil but it certainly needs to be revisited in the Dáil.

Senator Brady went down a line that I was going to take with regard to importation. Who imports bees and who supplies the bees that are imported? Perhaps this is a naive question but is there any exportation of bees? Is there any black bee from not too far away that it might be an advantage to import to consolidate our breed? These are all questions from somebody who is not as experienced as my colleague to the right.

The Asian hornet was mentioned briefly in the opening statement. How big a threat is the Asian hornet or any similar non-native or invasive species of hornet, wasp, bee or bird? We are in a changed world. How much harder is it for our bee? If it were not interfered with by cross-breeding or importation, and was on its own without any human interference, how hard would it find it to survive in the changing climate and the changing world we are living in?

I will take the question on the hornet. As we know already, there is no native hornet. Hornets are alien to this country. The European hornet does not exist here. Until last year, we were not aware that the Asian hornet was here. As Senator Daly probably knows, in the Republic there have been three instances, with two nests found and a male hornet found in Inchicore last year but no nest was located there. There was another instance in the North, where a nest was found in Belfast.

As someone who is experienced in this whole field, what is Mr. O'Neill's prediction or gut feeling on how many of them are dormant on the island at the moment? Do they die with the winter? I do not know. If I am not a bee expert, I am certainly not a hornet expert.

They are surviving further north in Great Britain than the ones that were found here so yes, they could survive in this environment, absolutely. We do not know. To give a little bit of background on the Asian hornet, DNA testing on hornets throughout France, where they arrived some 20-something years ago, proved that every one of the nests originated from one single hornet coming into France back in the day. They are extremely efficient at getting set up and reproducing and spreading. It takes only one mated female Asian hornet to come into this country and get away and get a nest set up for it to start to colonise the whole country and the whole island. This is how proficient they are. They are a threat not just to the honeybees but also to the bumblebees and to all other pollinators. They are carnivorous in nature and their job is to get out there and get meat to bring back to feed their nest. This is why they capture insects. Some of our colleagues in beekeeping groups have gone abroad to see this. They have gone to Jersey and Italy and the beehives in the apiaries there were silent. The location of a nest in the vicinity means the bees do not forage. They stay within the hive so they do not get attacked when they go out. It would have a huge effect on our bees.

To address Senator Daly's questions on imports and exports, all of the evidence so far suggests that between 85% and 90% of beekeepers in Ireland have the black bee. There are very few beekeepers importing bees but the few beekeepers who are doing so are having a massive negative impact on the rest of the country. This is really the problem. There are very few beekeepers who import large numbers of bees but those bees then get shipped out to the rest of the country. There is little regulation of bees when they come into the country as to where they go.

Why would a dedicated beekeeper choose to import bees?

That is a good question. The scientific evidence is equivocal. Reference was made to imported bees producing better honey. There is no evidence to support that. The studies that have been carried out suggest that the other subspecies coming into Ireland, which are regarded by the EU as invasive, produce very good honey in good climates, with good heat, sun and forage, from which they come. However, that is not the case in Ireland, which means they must be fed and treated. The Senator's question is a very good one. Sometimes, bees that are brought in have to be fed and treated and they do not survive as well as the Irish bees, which means having to bring in more of them. It is like a treadmill effect. Once somebody is on it, there is a need to keep doing it.

In terms of the economic impact of bees coming in and out, the trade is very little. There are very few bees being traded, at a very low cost, and that trade has a negligible impact on the economy. However, it has a huge impact on specific people. In Connemara, for example, a lot of time is put into protecting the native black bee, only for people to bring in imported bees. A beekeeper who had a massive deal with a French company had to import French bees. He could no longer ensure the purity of his bees in Connemara because of people bringing in bees from outside and because the French company insisted they had to be dark bees.

I will put a final question as I am conscious I do not have much time remaining. Can non-native bees come in here the way the hornet or the midge with bluetongue did, which was on the wind and without any human intervention in the form of importation? Has that happened?

No.

The hornet got here and the midge with bluetongue got here. What is to say non-native bees cannot also come in the back door?

Tropilaelaps can come in on used beekeeping equipment, for example, but the most likely way they would come in is on the queens people are importing. That is why it is essential to secure a ban on the importation of bees, which would put a stop to that particular issue.

The witnesses are very welcome. A number of years ago, I attended with Mr. O'Neill a workshop on rearing native Irish honeybee queens, which was brilliant. I am happy to be discussing this very important topic. The issue is that queens are coming in from abroad and breeding with native bees, which is causing a hybridisation that is basically destroying our native bees. That is what is happening. Beekeepers cannot control it because, as Mr. O'Neill said, they are mating 3 m to 30 m up in the sky. Another factor is that there are so many drones, which make up 15% to 20% of a colony.

I fully support a ban on importation. I propose that we, as a committee, write to the Minister asking that the legislation be hurried along. There is no reason not to do so. The economic impact is tiny but the impact on our environment and on our bee population is enormous. I ask colleagues to support my proposal. I will do everything I can, as I hope the committee will, to drive action on this.

It was mentioned in the opening statements that the hybridisation of Irish bees has increased by 300% in six years. That is an extraordinary figure. Is it the case that importation is rising or is it that the foreign bees in the country are having a massive effect in terms of mating with Irish bees?

I thank the Deputy for offering to push this forward. We are really grateful. For some reason, the legislation is not going anywhere and it really needs to progress.

It should be noted that another problem with the queens is that they are going to bring in disease. The Deputy was not here when we spoke about this earlier. They can bring in the tropilaelaps, the small hive beetle and all the pathogens and pests our local bees are not used to and with which they cannot cope.

The varroa mite was brought in back in the 1990s and has caused absolute devastation. I have had colonies over the past number of years that were affected.

Yes, we are still dealing with it. In Italy, small hive beetle infestations have resulted in 9,300 colonies being destroyed in the past few years.

Are Irish native bees more adaptable and resilient than the hybrid bees to dealing with the varroa mite?

That is a scientific question. I would answer "Yes" but Professor McCormack might wish to take it.

We do not have evidence exactly of that. We find that native bees survive better in the wild. That provides good clarity. We do not find the invasive subspecies queens surviving over the winter in the wild. That could be due to our climate, or it could be due to lack of resilience to pathogens. We have more and more beekeepers not using chemicals to treat because the native bee is able to cope with the varroa mite. Our native bee seems to have strong resilience to cope with this introduced pathogen. Wild colonies have been reported as being endangered in the EU-27 but Ireland has a very widespread population of surviving wild honeybees, which should be protected. They seem to be resilient to the varroa mite, whereas we are not seeing the invasive subspecies surviving in the wild.

How pervasive are the hybrid bees? If the Bill were passed tomorrow, the imported bees that were brought in over the years would still have an impact. What can be done about that? Should the committee and the Department be looking at creating zones to build up our native bees, for example, or supporting beekeepers with production? What else can we do other than seek to have the Bill progressed?

Regarding zones, within the Native Irish Honey Bee Society, we have established voluntary conservation areas among our members all over the island of Ireland, whereby beekeepers in those areas agree to only keep native Irish honeybees. To date, we have 400-plus such conservation areas. Some are as big as a garden or apiary, while others are complete parklands, golf courses and places like that. The initiative is voluntary and has no place in law. Once we have a ban on importations, over time the percentage of hybridisation will reduce because the native bee, which is more resilient and more suited to our climate, environment and flora, will become the dominant percentage in the DNA make-up of the bees that are here. The first step is to secure the ban on further importation into the island of non-native and hybridised bees. Once they are blocked from coming in, we will start to make inroads into getting back up to more purity in our stocks.

There was a ban back in 1980 by way of a statutory instrument. It was put in place to try to stop the varroa mite from getting here. It could be seen that it allowed the native bee to thrive at that time. We expect that a ban will allow the native species to be built back up again but it will take some time before the hybridisation fades away.

The imports are happening patchily across the country. In places like Dublin, Cork and perhaps Sligo, it will take longer for recovery to happen. It seems it does not take too long to happen if there are enough native bees, and 90% of beekeepers have native bees. The non-native bees that are present will be diluted very quickly by the native bees.

Do Dublin and Cork have stronger populations of hybrid bees compared with, say, the west or Donegal?

Yes, although Donegal has a high proportion of imported bees as well.

It will take a while for those genes to be diluted out, but it will happen over time.

I was not here for the opening statements but I read through them. I thank the witnesses for their timely arrival at the committee because this is an important piece of legislation that needs to be progressed. We will contact the Department and Minister to see what can be done to push this forward. I note some progress was made. As often happens with proposed legislation, it was referred for expert analysis, which can take a long time. We will all work together to ensure, from a committee perspective, that this happens as quickly as possible.

Regarding the 300% increase in the dilution of the native bee, from what basis did that start? How strong is the native bee population? Is there a danger that recovery will be difficult or hard to achieve? The presentations from the witnesses state that they feel it will not be difficult and can be done. Reassurance around that would be useful. Sometimes we can have bans, but enforcement is an issue. Anyone can bring a queen bee in a matchbox into the country. We need to address that issue. As well as bringing forward legislation and a ban, there needs to be awareness among the public as to the dangers involved in all of this.

With regard to the large increase in introgression, a study published in 2018 suggested that over 97.5% of the bees sample at that time were pure AMM. A study from 2024 suggests that between 18% and 25% of the bees at that time were introgressed. The studies are not directly comparable because different sampling and methods were used, but they hint at that large increase. That came on the back of many beekeepers reporting increases in colour and banding appearing in their bees and being concerned. That is why the second study was done.

With regard to the second study and the amount of introgression, about 8% of it was significant and the remaining 16% was not. The 16% figure is due to the impact of non-native drones, namely, invasive queens being brought in, producing drones and mating with local populations. That is easier to deal with than if queens were surviving in the environment and mating. Our native bee is thought to have a behaviour whereby it prefers drones of its own kind. If a ban were in place, therefore, the scientific understanding would be that it would revert. Some 16% of the introgression would be not be there. For example, the impact on drones would not be there. The rest would be reasonably okay to deal with.

They are also hardier and more able to survive the conditions.

Yes.

I ask for a comment on the implementation and monitoring of a ban.

As the Deputy can see, the Bill is very dear to my heart. I carry a copy around with me at all times.

Lovely.

It includes severe penalties. We would definitely ask that the penalties can be imposed because the Bill will have to be enacted properly and followed up on.

Since this became an issue, awareness has been raised by the Native Irish Honey Bee Society and media. Due to discoveries around their importance, the native Irish bee and our wild bees have been in the media a significant number of times. The education piece is important. There are very few beekeepers who are still flouting the rules. If that was controlled, it would help. Beginners are inadvertently buying things online because they are not being told the correct information. If all of that stopped, it would have an amazing influence.

From the point of view of a person breaching the law, what advantage would there be? Is there an advantage at all?

Sometimes an advantage would be an example like Italy, where the climate is very different from ours. It has queens ready very early in the season. Our beginners who do not know any better will go online and see bees which can be brought in and consider that as an advantage to get started early in the year. The beekeeping season in Ireland is very short, from April to August. Italy is much more well-prepared and has a longer season.

Another reason is that people can buy queens very cheaply. More queens being produced in Ireland to meet that market should help. A lot of infrastructure could be brought to bear. The committee could request better support for the beekeeping industry in this country because there is huge potential and scope to support beekeepers in increasing productivity and the number of queens produced for availability in early spring at a cheaper cost.

It is probably the one subsection of an industry that has such a positive impact on every other aspect of farming but is often neglected. If we could get more people in rural communities to keep bees on their properties, it would help with every other aspect of biodiversity. It is a win-win all round and something we should address. CAP negotiations are coming up. We should see whether there could be some benefit in CAP for farmers keeping bees. That would be very useful in encouraging beekeeping.

It has always been part of the traditional farm. There were always a couple of hives at the bottom of a garden. Honey is part of normal country life.

In terms of allergies, honey has been very beneficial.

I welcome the witnesses. While I do not keep bees, I have them on my farm in a couple of locations and love to see the beekeepers at work. I never realised there was so much work in bees. They visit the hives three or four times a week to watch the bees. At the back end of the year, they look after them over the winter.

I support everything said about the black bee. It would be awful if the country lost it. We are now doing everything possible to try to keep the last few corncrakes and hen harriers in the country. We should take steps now and learn from the mistakes of the past. I am delighted that the witnesses are taking such an interest in this.

I will support the legislation. Everybody can convince the Minister to bring it forward and that should be done sooner rather than later. It needs to be kept at the forefront. Those who are actively beekeeping should keep it up because they are well able to debate this issue, even more so than I can. How does the loss of genetic diversity in native Irish honeybees affect biosecurity? Should genetic conservation be considered a formal part of Ireland's national biosecurity strategy?

I would put it the other way around. The biosecurity aspect will affect the survival and diversity of the bee. The bee does not impact biosecurity; rather, biosecurity affects the bee. The availability of imports is giving a root for novel versions of pathogens and diseases we already have this country with which our bees are not familiar and do not have resistance or plans against. They also bring in new pathogens, viruses, diseases and pests not already here. The major issue beekeepers mention time and again is the tropilaelaps mite. It comes from the far side of Europe, in Georgia, and is heading towards Europe slowly and steadily. The impact that will have will be far greater then varroa had in 1998. It will absolutely devastate the population.

Is there evidence that the pathogens from non-bee pollinators such as the bumblebee or solitary bees could threaten native honeybees? What proactive measures are the witnesses proposing or are being considered?

Some of these biosecurity issues around the honey from imported honeybees will have a negative effect on other pollinators. They swap viruses and mites on the flowers. It means imported bumblebees and imported honeybees are bad for biosecurity. By banning the importation of honeybees, we will improve biodiversity and the health of general pollinators.

I see hives in urban areas now. I never saw that previously. With the increase in urban beekeeping, how do the witnesses assess the risk of the spread of disease in densely populated areas compared with that in rural apiaries? Should urban hives be subject to stricter rules for biosecurity?

We in Ireland are lucky because the country is unique, compared with anywhere else in Europe, in not having intensive apiculture. The density of hives in Ireland is not a patch on elsewhere. We did a complete census of the number of colonies in Donegal. There are 0.7, less than one colony, per square kilometre. In Slovenia, for example, there are 10.5 per square kilometre. We do not have that same issue.

Urban beekeeping is quite important in some ways, but it is not dense in Ireland. Beekeepers are normally careful in assessing the area before putting in apiaries to ensure they are not dense. High-density beekeeping will cause increasing disease. That is well-known.

Could digital tracking or hive monitoring technologies realistically improve early detection of diseases in the native Irish honeybee? What are the obstacles to widespread adoption of those technologies?

They do not exist.

I do not think they would help.

That is grand.

Returning to the topic of urban versus rural, the NIHBS would always recommend to its members to keep a small number of colonies. We are about sustainable beekeeping. I have written here that 90% of beekeepers are hobbyists.

That is right.

They are nicely spread out so we do not have any impact. That also affects other pollinators. One third of our 101 bee species are threatened with extinction, but that is not because of the honeybee, particularly if we keep the number of colonies down. That is an important point.

I will now ask about feeding bees. They feed bees now. Is that correct?

Some people do.

I am only asking. Is that where there are too many bees? Are there just not enough flowers for them?

Most beekeepers nowadays try not to have to feed their bees. That is a cash input you are going to have to put into your hobby. The majority of beekeepers take the surplus crop that the bees do not need to survive over the winter and bring them as far as the following April and leave a certain amount of honey and pollen with the bees to overwinter. It is the same as any part of agriculture or horticulture. If you are putting cash in, you have to get something back out. The less input, the more profitable your hobby or business is going to be. Beekeepers tend to feed only when needed and if the bees are hungry rather than robbing the honey from the bees and feeding them a lower value food in its place. Predominantly, beekeepers will leave the bees with a lot of honey.

Are the witnesses happy that the Department of agriculture is doing everything it can for their cause with the bees? They are not going to get in trouble. I just want to know. We in the committee do not hear much about bees. I am wondering if the Department is taking the bee thing seriously.

I can answer that.

I ask Ms Neary to be brief.

We would love to get much more co-operation, support and help from the Department of agriculture. We are waiting for the research that was done. Research is going to give the impetus to get the Bill pushed forward. The research was initially recommended by the Attorney General, who said that we need to assess the threat. We are totally okay with that. It is fine. Research was done. It took over a year to do. It was done by eight different scientific bodies in five different countries. It was presented to the Department in December 2024. It is now February 2026 and we have not seen it yet. Not only that but we submitted a freedom of information request to look at it and it was refused. I would love to have better co-operation. We would love to see the research because we think it is going to be valuable and essential.

A number of extra Members of the Houses who are not members of the committee are keen to participate. I also have one or two quick questions to address to the witnesses. In my community of Muskerry, we last week marked St. Gobnait's Day. Gobnait is the patron saint of the beekeeper. Beekeeping is a growing phenomenon in our area. Additional beekeepers are coming on. They are particularly younger people. I am trying to understand whether the threat to the bee is from the pathogen predominantly or from interbreeding with the other varieties of bee

My second question relates to the 2021 honeybee Bill. There has been a good bit of talk about it throughout the meeting. Clearly, there is interest in it. There has been no decision about advancing it but there is interest. It might be useful for the committee to engage with the Office of the Ceann Comhairle to see where that Bill stands and to consider opportunities for progressing it. That Bill is from 2021. In the intervening years, have the witnesses become aware of any possible enhancements that could be made to such a Bill if it were to advance? I am interested to hear the witnesses' views.

The Cathaoirleach asked about biosecurity versus hybridisation. The importation of bees affects hybridisation, but it is also a vector for bringing in biosecurity risks. The two go hand in hand. In 2021, we in the NIHBS were pushing to get the Bill to block importation to protect our bees from hybridisation. It is not just the NIHBS at this stage. Every beekeeping organisation in Ireland is pushing towards this in order to look at the biosecurity aspect and the risk that our bees are going to be getting new diseases and pathogens, variants of what we already have to which we have no resistance. The survival of beekeeping as a craft hobby and as an industry is at risk at this stage. That is where that side of it is.

I also asked about the possibility of improvements that are needed to the Bill.

We spent a lot of time with the legal body to consider what was required. We did a lot of refining and so on. At the moment, there is no amendment or addition to the Bill that we are seeking. It sits as it is. We are just waiting for it to progress through the Houses.

I thank the witnesses for their opening statement and for all the work they are doing. It was a fantastically prepared opening statement and was very informative. I have operated a commercial beekeeping enterprise for over 20 years. In that time, I have been selectively breeding native black queens from my own stock and from stocks from right across Ireland. I am convinced that the native Irish bee is the only way forward for commercial beekeeping in this country. As a beekeeper who operates a commercial beekeeping enterprise, I wholeheartedly agree with what the witnesses are trying to achieve.

Do we, as a country, have the capacity to produce enough queens domestically here to meet the demand of Irish beekeepers?

Yes, absolutely we do. Since 2021, we in the NIHBS have been training beekeepers from all over the country in the skills required for the rearing of queens that are sustainable in this environment. We have trained at least 400 beekeepers on that. We trained them over a set of online talks and lectures - 15 different lectures in the springtime. In fact, this year's lectures start on Thursday night of this week. There will be two lectures a night over eight weeks. We have done over 400. Approximately 120 new people are starting in the course this year.

The Bill proposes to ban the importation of bees. Is there a precedent with similar legislation elsewhere in a European Union member state?

We have the precedent of Slovenia, which I already mentioned. It is the entire country. Slovenia is quite different from Ireland because honey production and beekeeping is a huge industry. I believe one in every 100 people in Slovenia is a beekeeper. It may feel like there are a lot of beekeepers here today, but there are even more in Slovenia. It was definitely there. In Bulgaria, Romania, parts of Italy, parts of Denmark, parts of France and other parts of Europe that let the Apis mellifera mellifera, the black bee, go, they now really regret it and want it back. Ireland is the only country that has such a pure population and we have an opportunity to not let it go here.

We currently have no bee inspectors in place in this country. Will Mr. O'Neill explain to the committee the model of bee inspection for diseases like American foulbrood, European foulbrood, etc., that is in place in Britain and Northern Ireland. What improvements could our Department of agriculture make to put in place bee inspection?

In GB - they do not have any in the North of Ireland anymore - they have what are called bee inspectors. Some of them are permanent positions 12 months of the year. They provide diagnostic services similar to what the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine provides from Backweston under the auspices of Dr. Mary Coffey. They have something there that we do not have here. They have inspectors who go out to beekeepers, either invited or uninvited, and they check out their colonies for diseases. They visit beekeepers who are either registered or unregistered. They go through their colonies, point out where diseases are present and identify diseases for them. They inspect the health of their colonies and advise them on management practice. We have no such facility in this country. I am not aware if we ever actually had it in this country and it is lacking, sadly. If there was one thing other than the ban on imports that beekeepers would look for, it would be active inspectors to help and support all beekeepers.

I am not a member of this committee but I offer my full support. The Bill was introduced by Vincent P. Martin and very much supported by my colleague Erin McGreehan when I was a Member of the Seanad. I also strongly supported it. I am related to Colm Penston, one of the best beekeepers in Wexford. When it comes to honey, my constituency of Wicklow-Wexford is not quite Slovenia, but we have plenty of beekeepers and honey producers. In addition to Colm Penston, we also have people like the Wildes family with Tara Hill Honey and Samuel Allen with Ballydane Farm. We have lots of honey producers. The potential for the sector is really important. The threats that are outlined in the witnesses' opening statements are significant. For the entire food chain, bees are incredibly important. In my office here in Leinster House I have a poster listing all the native bees. This committee should do anything it can do to support the Irish honeybee as a matter of priority. I indicate my strong support for the Bill and for the work beekeepers do.

I thank the Deputy. We really appreciate everyone's support.

We know the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine carried out a scientific and legal review. I again today call for that report to be fully published because we need to do it. This is taxpayers' money. Resources were put at stake to provide this report. I think it is important. The witnesses do not have to respond now because I know time is running out, but I just redouble my commitment. We voted for it in the Seanad on all Stages, as my colleague who is a former Senator said. It is important that we here today call on the Department of agriculture to publish this extensive report which they say is blocking the progression of this legislation to the Dáil. I ask Deputies here to wake up to the fact that this has been sitting in the Dáil since 2025 and this is now 2026. Will somebody now take up the gauntlet and put this legislation, which has approval, on the agenda to wrap it up? I again thank the witnesses for engaging with us.

This is my first time speaking at the agriculture committee. I do not know if it is the first time that a Dub has spoken here. As the proud owner of seven beehives, I felt I would have to speak on this. I have spoken to some of the witnesses on the phone. This Dáil has one of the highest numbers of Gaeilgeoirí and one of the highest numbers of beekeepers - me and, I think, another TD.

I heard the witnesses speak about the mites, which is obviously something that is really bad. I want to talk about the level of solo bees. The PA who works for me, Tracy Young, was previously the PA for Vincent P. Martin. Please God, we will introduce a ban. If we do so, what is the current UK Government position on it? Will bees still be allowed to be imported into the North of Ireland?

We were at a beekeeping conference in the North last weekend where we sounded out some of the people there on it. Their view is very much one of sitting their hands until the Republic decides on enacting this Bill. The beekeeping organisations there fully expect the Legislature there to jump on the bandwagon and block the import there as well.

It would make no sense if it was not island-wide.

That is the opinion from the beekeeping groups there. They expect to follow suit. However, they are very much waiting for some type of impetus coming from here that we get it and they follow.

I do not think bees would respect the Border.

We have support from all beekeeping organisations on the island of Ireland for this. People both North and South are fully behind this.

Brilliant. Obviously, the witnesses are very welcome to the committee.

As an island we have a geographical advantage. It makes complete sense and we have their support.

I agree 100%, but if there were to be a different law, it would not make sense for the importation.

I would like to hear the witnesses' opinion on the honey. As beekeepers, they know when they give someone real honey, they can taste the difference from the thing that is in shops. While not perhaps in this Bill but in future Government policy, should we bring in regulations on what can be called honey? I know there are reports from recent studies indicating that people are drinking sugar syrup and thinking it is honey. It is a blend of EU and non-EU. A lot of it is from Afghanistan and other countries. It is of no benefit as well. Is there any opinion on that?

There is a huge opportunity for Irish beekeepers to produce more homemade honey. Honey bought at a farmers' market is entirely different from the cheaper stuff on sale in Lidl. There is no comparison whatsoever.

The witnesses are very welcome to today's committee meeting. It is very important their supporters in the Oireachtas come here to support and welcome them.

My colleague Deputy Malcolm Byrne has spoken about our support for that Bill in our previous term in the Seanad. I was one of the co-signatories of the Bill. We will push to reissue it into the Dáil as soon as we bureaucratically can and are permitted. We will get it onto the Order Paper of Dáil Éireann as soon as possible.

I am very ambitious for what we can do for the protection of the native Irish bee. How do our witnesses' societies look to the classification of beehives as a unit of livestock? A person cannot just import any cow or sheep into Ireland. They have to have proper channels and papers. The Department is very clear and sharp on coming down on illegal trade, and rightly so. What about that proposal? I put this forward before because it would also encourage farmers to have a unit of free hives or whatever on their farm. It would encourage native Irish beekeepers if they were able to call it a unit of livestock.

There was talk some years ago and there was what I suppose could be called a campaign from hill farmers who also kept bees to get a number of beehives - four was the number I heard mentioned - classified as one livestock unit for subsidies, payments, grants, or whatever sort of funding was available. It is not my area of any great knowledge but we would be absolutely 100% behind that. If it could be limited whereby a person who had native bees would get an advantage, we would be very favourably disposed to that happening as well.

Only native flora.

It is something that needs to be done. Bees are probably unique in that, on one side, they are treated as livestock by the Department when they are managed within colonies, but they are also free-living and wild animals when they are living in a tree, cavity, wall or roof. They are under two different classifications, and possibly that suits certain people, because while they are free-living, it does not really come under the Department of agriculture, while at other times they are livestock, the regulations apply and the Department has things it must do. The bee has dual citizenship, if you like, as a wild creature and as livestock. Who knows?

That brings a conclusion to our debate this afternoon. As well as the standing members of the committee, it is great to see that there is such a wide interest from other members. I acknowledge that and thank everybody who has taken part. On behalf of the committee, I thank our witnesses for their contribution to today's meeting. As there is no further business for today, this meeting stands adjourned.