I welcome the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and his officials. I thank them for coming to the Chamber to discuss this all-important topic. I invite the Minister to make his opening statement.

I thank Senators for putting this really important issue on the business of the Seanad today. I am delighted to have the opportunity to engage with the Upper House on the dynamic situation regarding bluetongue in Ireland.

As colleagues know, bluetongue is a viral disease, caused by the bluetongue virus, that can result in severe clinical symptoms in ruminant species, including cattle, sheep, goats, deer and camelids such as alpacas and llamas. There are different serotypes of the bluetongue virus, the most common found in Europe being serotypes 1, 3, 4 and 8. Since the first detection of bluetongue serotype 3 in Ireland, which was in County Wexford on 22 January, infection has been detected in five more cattle herds in that county. A further infection was detected two weeks ago in a bovine that had been in a number of counties during the possible infection period. Investigations are ongoing into that case. Last week, two additional cases of bluetongue were detected, one of them in County Wicklow and the other in County Louth.

While this is an unwelcome development, it is not unexpected as the virus has been spreading across Europe and Great Britain in recent years and was found in Northern Ireland in December 2025. It is important to emphasise that there are no human health risks associated with bluetongue. It does not affect human health or food safety, and meat and milk from infected animals are safe to eat and drink. My Department has made extensive efforts to communicate that clearly to the general public.

I appreciate the efforts of colleagues in reiterating that message in any of their future engagements.

I want to acknowledge the stress that the presence of bluetongue must cause to farmers generally, especially in the south-east and east. Bluetongue is spread by infected biting midges, as Senators are aware, many of which are found throughout the island of Ireland. The high risk period for the spread of bluetongue is when temperatures are warmer, between April and November, where it is consistently north of 12°C. Thankfully, given the temperatures this time of the year the disease cannot be spread by midges. It is fair to say that how we would respond to the first outbreak in January is very different to how we would respond to one in July, something I can go into in more detail in my reply or in a supplementary follow-up.

It is conjectured that the incursion was caused by infected midges blowing over to Ireland from areas of Great Britain where bluetongue virus, BTV-3, was present. The dispersion modelling undertaken by the UCD centre for veterinary epidemiology and risk analysis, CVERA, identified that the time most likely to experience such an incursion would have been late September 2025. My Department is undertaking ongoing national surveillance nationally, covering all parts of the country. This includes the culled cow blood testing programme, the testing of animals submitted to my Department's network of regional veterinary labs, the investigation of clinical suspects reported to my Department by farmers or vets and targeted surveillance in counties identified by the modelling carried out by UCD.

While animal movement controls may be required if the circumstances indicate it, based on the information currently available the veterinary epidemiological risk assessment is that animal movement controls are not necessary currently and it is not expected that this will change. My Department has undertaken regular engagement with farm organisations and stakeholders across the industry, as well as with my counterparts in Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, since Ireland's first case was confirmed.

Ireland has now lost its disease-free status for bluetongue. This has certain ramifications for trade, predominately for the movement of live animals and germinal products in the EU and third countries. My Department is working to renegotiate veterinary health certificates, VHCs, to facilitate ongoing trade, which has been impacted by the loss of freedom from bluetongue, including live animal exports. Much progress has made this area but work is ongoing in respect of some markets. I am happy to report that on 18 February, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency agreed an interim trade certificate with Ireland, which will allow dairy exports to resume. This follows previous success in securing resumed access for hides and skins to the Chinese market.

The detection of bluetongue in Ireland has created challenges for intracommunity trade in cattle and sheep and is of particular concern to farmers in respect of the movement of calves and movements for breeding and production to Northern Ireland. The conditions for the agreed animal health certificates under which cattle and sheep can move to Northern Ireland for breeding and production can no longer be met due to bluetongue. In addition, the conditions to meet certification requirements for movement to Great Britain cannot currently be met either.

Some importing member states have chosen to apply derogations to these conditions, thereby allowing the inward movement of cattle and sheep from countries with BTV-3, such as Ireland, subject to certain additional requirements decided by those member states. No such derogations are in place in respect of Northern Ireland and therefore, the movement of cattle and sheep for breeding and production from Ireland to Northern Ireland cannot currently take place. The decision on whether to apply the derogation and the conditions which would apply if that were done is one taken by the importing member state, not by us.

I announced last December that BTV-3 vaccination under licence would be permitted in Ireland in 2026. The high risk period for infection will be during the warmer months. Farmers, in consultation with their veterinary practitioners, should consider whether the use of BTV-3 vaccines during the spring to protect their stock in advance of any midge-borne virus spread during those warmer months is appropriate for them. There are three different vaccines available, though none as yet has an established duration of immunity.

In the broader European context, the Commission has recently recategorised bluetongue serotypes 1 to 24, inclusive, in EU regulations under the animal health law, shifting it from a category C to a category D and E disease. This change is scheduled to take full effect on 15 July this year and will result in bluetongue being treated as a disease under surveillance as opposed to a disease to be eradicated. This means that under EU legislation, no member state will be able to achieve official freedom from bluetongue. The implication for Ireland is that the emphasis will be on movement controls and surveillance, rather than disease eradication. I would like to acknowledge the continued co-operation of industry stakeholders with my Department in preparing for and dealing with the incursion of the bluetongue virus. I look forward to hearing the contributions of Members.

I understand Senator Brady is sharing time with Senator Kyne. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The Minister is welcome to the House once more. It seems that we have him in this House frequently to discuss agricultural issues. He correctly said that bluetongue has caused much stress and strain for the farming community, which is correct. Bluetongue is spread by the infection of a biting midge. Thankfully, Ireland, as he rightly said, was one of the last countries in the EU to lose its disease-free status, last year. I pay tribute to his Department for keeping it off the island because everybody knows the price of weanlings last year, how many cattle were exported to Europe, and how sought-after our weanlings were. That is thanks to the Department keeping it off this island. Unfortunately, it has come here. It was going to be here sooner or later. At least we had the winter months to prepare for it. I welcome that the vaccine is freely available.

Is the Department advising farmers to take up the vaccine and vaccinate all animals, including sheep and cattle, or is it only in areas where infection has been detected? I welcome that the Department is doing more testing at the moment and that is why we are seeing more cases. Is the advice from this House that everybody on the island of Ireland should take up the vaccine and protect their livelihood, or should it just be in the areas where we have seen outbreaks?

I would like to throw a couple of curveballs at the Minister, unfortunately. I should probably have put them to him before we came in here. He mentioned a derogation among member states. We have a situation where cattle are not allowed to be freely traded between Northern Ireland and southern Ireland. However, trade between Northern Ireland and southern Ireland works both ways because the period when we have cattle shows is coming. Men in County Longford rang me last Tuesday to say that they had bought cattle in Northern Ireland before the outbreak occurred. They are sitting on holdings where they have paid a lot of money to show cattle, heifers and bullocks that have been tested. Is a derogation possibly needed between North and South? Might we have something in place if the Minister, Andrew Muir and the Minister, Deputy Heydon, meet? The Minister might update this House on that. As he knows, there is a soft Border. It would alleviate problems North and South if it was rectified.

Losing our disease-free status is not the end of the world because it seems that our EU counterparts have relaxed the measures around bluetongue. The Minister might update us on that. We will be the beneficiaries of that relaxation come next July or August.

I thank the Minister for coming to the Seanad for these statements on bluetongue. This is a worrying time. My colleague Senator Brady has raised concerns on many occasions over the past year about the possibility of bluetongue arriving, and it has arrived. The Minister mentioned the cases in counties Wexford, Wicklow and Louth. Is there interconnectivity or commonality between Wexford and Wicklow, and indeed Louth? Is that a fresh infection, with the possibility of wind-borne midges arriving via the UK? The Minister has rightly emphasised that there are no public health risks associated with bluetongue. It is important to put that on the record. He has talked about the biting of one animal and the impact that can have.

Unfortunately, now that Ireland has lost its disease-free status it has ramifications for trade. The Minister talked about vaccinations. What is the prognosis in relation to when the Department would actually mandate or more strongly encourage vaccination of animals? Is it restricted to a certain geographical area following a confirmation of an outbreak? What plans or what monitoring do the Department have for that? With the veterinary work, are there proactive veterinary investigations to ascertain the possible spread of the bluetongue? In terms of blood sampling work, the Minister mentioned the blood testing works from culled cows. Is that across the whole country or is that confined to the risk areas at the moment?

In relation to the cases of infection that have taken place, what has happened those animals and their health? I know it is spread from a midge bite and then from biting another animal so I wonder whether there is any indication there. With infection, the high-risk period will be during the warmer months. Thankfully in this sense, but unfortunately in other senses, we have had anything but warmer months. We have had very wet and windy weather. Has that wind actually impacted the midges travelling across? Is this something that is particular to these stormy periods? I think it was in 2024 that Dr. Eoin Ryan from the Department of agriculture presented at a Teagasc conference on the whole issue of bluetongue and talked of wind dispersal of infected midges. He talked about some of the impacts and clinical signs in relation to animals that are suffering from bluetongue, and said that a single bite from a bluetongue-affected midge can cause a new bluetongue infection. Once the bluetongue virus enters the midge population, eradication becomes very difficult and requires high vaccination uptake. A pregnant animal that becomes infected can pass the infection on to their newborn calf. When these calves are born weeks and months later, they are infectious. All of this is quite worrying as we approach the summer months and warmer temperatures, and what may lie ahead for our status. The Minister talked about the impact on trade and some of the mitigation on that. It is worrying. The role of the Minister and his Department in being proactive on this is really important.

I welcome our visitors from Borrisokane women's and men's sheds, who are guests of Deputy Ryan O'Meara. You are very welcome. I hope you enjoy your visit here today.

I welcome the Minister and I thank him for facilitating our statements on bluetongue today. I know the Minister has had ongoing engagement and will continue to do so. We may have submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister's office in the last few days in relation to this subject. I know the Minister is committed to coming back to us and I want to thank him for doing that. I also want to acknowledge the very significant and important role of our chief veterinary officer within the Department. It is an amazing role and she is an amazing person who does the job. I ask the Minister to convey this to her and her team in Agriculture House, and also to the Minister's staff in agriculture. If anyone thought the Ministry of agriculture was an easy one, the last few months have made it very clear that it is a very busy Department. One wants to be up on one's feet, shrewd and capable. I wish the Minister well. This is just another thing to land on the Minister's desk and it is very much a challenge.

The Minister has summed it all up. Ireland has now lost its disease-free status for bluetongue and this clearly has ramifications for trade. That must always be a concern to us all. The Minister touched on the renegotiation of the veterinary health certificates, VHC, to facilitate ongoing trade, which has been impacted with the loss of Ireland's freedom from bluetongue and includes live animal exports. Clearly we have a massive cross-Border trade and there would be major challenges. If there was ever a showcase of agriculture, Northern Ireland is an amazing place for anyone who is familiar, or not that familiar, with farming. It is confirmed that the Republic of Ireland had its first case of bluetongue back in January but the cross-Border trade for breeding stock is at a standstill now. We are effectively at a standstill between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. This is ahead of major sales shows, which somebody else referred to. It also affects new bloodlines that are now going to be shut down temporarily but at a particularly crucial time in sales. Pedigree and commercial cattle and sheep are particularly exposed as they rely on the genetic exchange, the cross-Border sales and the movement of highly valuable animals. This has an impact on us also.

There has been a lot of talk about vaccinations. When we talk about animal health, consumption and food, and we have talked about this to a great extent in the last few weeks, people are asking questions about the vaccine, for example the BTV-3 vaccine, and its availability in Ireland. Perhaps the Minister will touch on availability - what vaccines are actually available, licensed and permitted - and the impact on our meat and consumption. This is a critical area of concern. Then we must ask about the supply chain and the consistency of vaccinations, what is the right choice for the flock or particular herd, and what is the advice there. Teagasc has done a certain amount of work in this area. It is important that we have Teagasc. I do not doubt its ability. It is about education and communication. The Minister is right when he says it is important that we get the message over that bluetongue has no impact on human health. That is a very strong message we need to get out there. There will be scaremongers who will be saying that this is not true. We have got to follow the science. I believe the Minister that this is an important message. The communication, and how we handle this crisis in very simple language, is really critical and important.

The Minister might confirm what vaccines are currently authorised for use on animals in the Republic of Ireland. Circulars issued from the Department of agriculture said that the duration for the immunity period guaranteed in the specifications of a vaccine have "not been determined to date" but trials are ongoing in other countries. Will the Minister please comment on that? I know this is an ever-moving and ever-evolving situation but we need to be up to speed on the status of these vaccines. Supply of the vaccines is critically important. What vaccines are licensed to be used here? What have been approved? What work has been done in relation to that? This is really important. It is important to keep our veterinary practitioners and other relevant stakeholders up to speed in what is best practice. That is what is really important. It is about how we are going to communicate to the ordinary people, how we are going to communicate to the consumer, how we are going to communicate with the farmers involved, and the challenges around that.

I thank the Minister for coming to the House and facilitating statements and some engagement. There will be a more detailed question-and-answer session with the Minister at the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food. Senator Daly and other Senators here are members of that committee. I wish the Minister well. It is another challenge but I have no doubt we will get over it.

I welcome the Minister here today. I want to be associated with the previous comments also. I compliment the Minister and thank him and his staff for the efficiency with which they have dealt with this issue. If it was not for the targeted surveillance, we probably would not even know there was bluetongue here. It was important that we got out there. That testing has been going on for a long time. When we had an outbreak, the Minister organised a briefing in his Department for spokespeople from the different parties. It was very informative and very reassuring. While this is a major issue for the Irish family farms and they are worried about it, we do not need to do any scaremongering either. We need to reassure. As Senator Boyhan said, we need to reassure the customer. There are no human health issues with this. It is vitally important that at every opportunity we stress that point and that we do not scare people off enjoying the valuable product that is our beef.

I have a couple of questions for the Minister. I want to compliment him on the speed with which the market for the hides was reopened in China. I know that the Minister had some of the work done. It was inevitable. Once it came to the North and it was in the west coast of the UK and Wales, with the winds it was inevitable that it was always going to happen and it was going to come here.

The Department was out of the traps early and actually had some of the market certificates regenerated before it arrived at all, which is to be commended. As I say, the Minister and his people have to be commended on this. We would have had a major crisis if we had not been able to get the hides to China. The fact that reopened again so swiftly is very welcome and to be commended.

I would also like to associate myself with what Senator Brady said about the North. We have to do something about North-South trade. The breeding season is on us now and a large number of stock bulls of different breeds cross the Border from different herds. It is vitally important in terms of keeping genetics up to date. If an animal is tested and is bluetongue free I do not see any reason why they cannot go from a farm in the North to a farm in the South, albeit that it would be an extra hindrance and extra workload on testing them, if someone really wants to buy a bull in the North. My last three stock bulls have come from Irvinestown in County Fermanagh but I cannot replace the one I have at the moment up there now but if he was tested I would confidently take him across the Border. We need to look into this. I know the Minister has had numerous meetings with his counterpart in the North and we cannot determine it as it is the purchaser who calls the shots.

I also welcome the recategorisation in Europe from C to D and E. At least it is an acceptance that there is nobody putting a gun to our head here that we are going to have to try to eradicate this disease. I would have a problem or a worry about our good friend who gets the blame a lot of times with TB, but one of the ruminants that is mentioned is the deer. We can do all the testing we want and we can know that our bovines are free but if this gets into the deer herd, and because of the fact that they are living wild in the woods and among trees, I imagine that is going to be even more of a habitat for the midge during the warmer weather. I do not know if there is a plan in place or what action is proposed, but I would be worried about the deer population when the weather improves and as I said, they would be more prone to the midge.

With regard to testing and trying to be solution-driven, we had fantastic success in how we handled the BVD. I know that the preferred test for bluetongue is a blood test. Every calf born in Ireland is tagged and a tissue sample is sent away for BVD purposes. Is there any way we could also incorporate a test for bluetongue into that tissue test? As I say, I am very much aware of the fact that the blood test is preferred, but we are taking tissue samples and we are sending them to lab where they are being tested for BVD. How big a job would it be for them to be tested for bluetongue also? I am very much aware of the fact that a pregnant cow can pass it on to her calf. If the calf could be tested when it is being tested for BVD and was positive for bluetongue we would then know that the cow must have been a carrier. This could be done instead of having herd tests or regionalised tests. Could this be considered or worked on? If we are sending in the tissue anyway why can they not be tested for two diseases rather than one? It might be a way of curtailing this. I know it is going to be hard. A midge is a hard thing to curtail, fence, control, monitor or tag, so it is not going to be simple. If we know where it is we will be able to limit it but it is helpful that the EU is recognising it now as a surveillance disease as opposed to one for eradication, because that would be nigh on impossible.

The other form of spread - earlier I mentioned about the stock bulls or the purebred bulls coming from the North - is through semen from the bulls. I do not know if it can be made mandatory but anybody with a herd of cows or heifers who would be buying a bull would probably like to see that bull tested. I know it may be left to the prerogative of the sellers of the purebred bulls but it might not be any harm that bulls that are changing hands and going to different herds would be tested. I will probably be the worst in the world if tomorrow the Minister announces mandatory testing because I suggested it but we cannot make an omelette without cracking a few eggs. We want to curtail this; we want to stop it and anyone who would complain about having to test their bulls is not genuine about trying to curtail the bluetongue disease.

I have not yet heard the Minister being publicly criticised over this and in this business it is positive that he was not blamed. The Minister will never be praised when he gets it right, but he will be knocked when people think it was wrong. He has not been criticised on this, so far. I do not want to give the Minister a swelled head but so far he must be doing everything correctly and I hope he keeps up the good work. I is important that we keep it at bay as much as we can. How possible that is going to be I do not know but if we leave no stone unturned then none of us can be blamed if it does not end up being curtailed.

It is nice to have the Minister back in the House again. Not for one minute is this anybody's fault. Nobody can predict a midge coming over the Border and infecting our animals but it is an all-island issue. I echo what I have heard across the floor. It is an all-island issue, and it needs to be tackled on an all-island basis. Not having exports North and South is just not sustainable when there are farmers on each side of the Border with the exact same disease. I completely understand the Minister's point that importing jurisdictions decide on derogations, but the Government has the responsibility to drive an all-island solution on this and to raise it urgently at an EU level so that animal health certification reflects the reality on the ground, which is we do not have a strong Border on this island. It is virtually up in the air and when it comes to this kind of disease, it would not matter if there was a strong Border, we could still not stop it. We are also calling for a scaling up of testing nationwide, particularly ahead of the warmer months when temperatures go above 12°C, so waiting until the middle of summer is not an option. We need to get this done as quickly as possible. I would also like to see a clear and proactive vaccination strategy. We do not yet know if this is going to be mandatory or widespread or how many have to do it. When we talk about vaccinations we will have to take into account the significant cost to the farmer. From what I can gather it is €2.50 a head for sheep and €9 a head for cattle. Depending on herd size that is going to be a significant cost. If we are going to be looking at vaccinations the State will have to come up with some kind of a scheme to share the financial burden. Our farmers cannot take much more of a financial cost on top of what they already put up with.

As was mentioned earlier, information is critical. Our farmers need a clear roadmap as to how they are going to manage this. They need information on spotting the symptoms, the biosecurity measures, animal movement, and again, the vaccination timelines. It would be nice to see a resourced information campaign that could be put out there for these farmers.

We cannot ignore the wider context that Ireland's agrifood reputation is under pressure. We have had the controversies about Bord Bia, trade uncertainty and rising costs. If bluetongue is mishandled it risks becoming another blow to confidence in the sector which we just cannot afford in this country. We have such a high standard and such an amazing food sector that we want to get this right. That is what it comes down to. I think everybody in this room wants to get this right and as I said at the start, no blame is being laid at anyone's feet for this. This is not something we could stop coming in but it is definitely something on which we can put our heads together and come up with the right solutions that work for everybody; for ourselves, the Government, the farmers and the consumer. We need to ensure that the consumer understands it is not a health issue. For the farmers it is going to come down to a cost issue more than anything when they see the costs going up and are not able to do their trade. Some farmers in the North in the South would have already sold cattle and they are stuck with that stock. They cannot get rid of it because we have that jurisdiction issue. It would be nice to hear some comments from the Minister on the North-South issue and see if we could do this on an all-island basis.

As there are no other members indicating I now call an tAire to respond.

I thank colleagues for raising a variety of different points. I am going to make a little room. We were making notes as we went along. I will endeavour to get to everyone's questions and respond to the different points that were raised. Points that have been raised regarding the confirmation of the presence of bluetongue serotype 3, BTV-3, in Ireland. It poses a not insignificant challenge for us. I remain acutely aware of how worrying this is for farmers. All colleagues across the House have highlighted that. That is especially true in areas where there are more instances of bluetongue, particularly in the south east. My Department has engaged regularly with farming organisations and industry stakeholders since its presence was confirmed.

I acknowledge that Senators made time in their busy schedules to have a debate on the issue. That allows us to communicate. I have no doubt but that the agricultural media, in particular, will be following the debate here as they did the debate in the Dáil Chamber last week. The media will report the points that have been made. Getting clear and concise information to all sides and all members of the Oireachtas committee, as I did with my officials earlier, has been helpful. We want to disseminate clear information and take away the fear. This is a new scenario for farmers but one that is not surprising. We have watched the spread of the disease. Not to dwell on the point, but when Senator Paul Daly was praising me, I felt there was a kick to come somewhere. I thank him for his comments. I pay tribute to the teams of staff and people who have worked on this issue. Officials in my Department have done a remarkable job in keeping bluetongue off the island before now and in having a clear plan and preparing for if and when it arose. They have interacted with and reassured private veterinary practitioners, PVPs, and farmers. We saw with the outbreak of avian influenza how a co-ordinated approach across all sectors, including the staff in our regional veterinary offices around the country, can play a key role in reassuring farmers of the points that have been made. I thank my colleagues for their endeavours and help with the communication piece.

Senator Brady raised a number of points. The advice to people is to discuss the vaccine with their veterinary practitioner. This is not a one-size-fits-all solution and a tailored approach is required. It must work right for the individual. It is a commercial decision. This is, as I said, a trade virus - a production virus, if you like - in that it impacts trade and business decisions. It obviously impacts the health of the animal that gets it but there are no human health or food safety concerns, as we have reiterated. However, as the decision around vaccine has a number of contributing factors, it is a decision to be made by a farmer with the advice of his or her PVP. The aim of the vaccine is to protect against potential infection in 2026 and, therefore, to reduce its impact in spring 2027 and to stop that cumulative effect.

Nearly every Senator mentioned the impact on cross-Border trade. We are acutely aware of that. Only last Thursday, I was in Donegal and met the Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland, Andrew Muir MLA, as we announced an €11.7 million investment from my Department and under the shared island initiative, and a cross-Border pilot project, between Donegal and Derry, piloting new measures and doing some research projects around bovine TB. We have seen from the success in New Zealand at driving down instances of bovine TB that regionalisation approaches have worked really well. That will be a key project. The Minister and I discussed at length the impact on trade. It is important we understand when we talk about derogations that there is no derogation to trade that is not without risk. A derogation in relation to this issue is not just between us and Northern Ireland. If we agree to apply a derogation for the movement of animals across the Border, it would apply to all member states. The incidences and the levels of infection disease across Europe are very different to those here. It is much more established there. That is an issue we must bear in mind. A derogation would mean that other animals could move here and we could have significant disease consequences and outcomes out of that. We are considering all of the derogation options allowed under the EU regulations. As I said, the disease situation is very different in member states on the Continent and we must bear that in mind. This is not just between us and Northern Ireland.

Senator Kyne raised a number of questions, in particular about Wexford and Wicklow. He asked was there any commonality or linkage between those areas. In the epidemiological testing and efforts that have taken place, no commonality has been found between the Wicklow and Wexford strains. Louth is obviously closer to where the first instances occurred in Northern Ireland. The information available to us is that it takes very specific environmental conditions for a plume of midges to successfully cross the Irish Sea but the sense is that what happened in Wexford most likely came over from the UK rather than down from the North because it is such a jump in geographical area. We have seen that those conditions can occur and provide encouragement to BTV-3. Given the high concentration of bluetongue cases in the south east, Great Britain is the most likely source. It is not unlikely that there will be additional incursions of infected midges into the Republic later this year. That is a real risk for us.

Senator Kyne also raised questions around vaccination. It is a decision for each farmer, in consultation with his or her vet. Modelling by University College Dublin, UCD, has identified the higher risk counties for disease incursion and we are doing more active surveillance in those areas. The Senator also asked about the culled cow scheme, which covers all of the Republic of Ireland. He also asked about animals that test positive. It is important to bear in mind that when animals tests positive for the bluetongue virus, they are infectious for approximately 60 days. Animals that tested positive in early January or February are not going to be positive by the time midge activity can pass it on. We are in the low incidence period within herds and it is difficult to identify all the positives. We are aware that there are positives out there that we may not have identified because we are in the lower risk period. The focus is to identify the broad geographical areas where bluetongue is present. This information will assist farmers in making the decision to vaccinate. To vaccinate or not is a commercial decision. There is also cost involved for the individual farmer. In addition, the likelihood and risk of the disease being prevalent in your area is a contributing factor to that decision.

I thank Senator Boyhan for his comments. I wholeheartedly agree that communication is very important in respect of bluetongue. There are three vaccine licensed, to answer his specific question. He has put me on the spot here and is going to make me try to pronounce these vaccines, which is not simple. They are Syvazul BTV 3, Bluevac-3 and Bultavo 3. Bultavo 3 is the most popular vaccine. Officials will provide in writing details on the availability of other vaccines. As of 18 February, 88 PVP licences for vaccines had been processed. There has been some take-up to date.

Senator Paul Daly raised a number of important points and questions. He raised many points I agree with around targeted surveillance and said that the briefing of the information is important. Unfortunately, no other member state has had success in eradicating the bluetongue virus to date. That was reflected in the recategorisation. The Senator asked what opportunity this provides for us. Senator Brady also touched on the point. Being honest, when we were free of bluetongue we did not want it. We did not want recategorisation because it means you cannot attain disease-free status into the future. How bluetongue spreads through midge activity means that when it gets into the midges and into an area it is very hard to eradicate. No one has done it successfully so far. Moving from category C to category D and E is significant. Now that it is on the island, focus needs to be on mitigating the risk to livestock. That was why I licensed the use of vaccines once we had our first cases in Northern Ireland. I did not wait for it to come here. I wanted to give time and notice for it.

The Senator also asked about the spread and what will happen if it gets into the deer population. To be clear, this disease does not spread from animal to animal. It is absolutely the case that the midge is the vector, if the temperatures are warm enough for that to be the case. Deer will not catch it and pass it to other deer. However, if a deer, cow or any animal has the disease and an uninfected midge lands on it and catches the disease, that midge has the ability to spread it.

That is how it becomes established.

That is the point I was making.

That is the point the Senator was making and I understand that.

My officials understand the urgency regarding North-South trade. Senators Daly and Brady and others have referred to the show period that is coming up. That is a big challenge. An awful lot of important trade happens both ways. There is urgency about finding a solution to North-South trade. EU regulations dictate the derogations that can be applied. These options need to be carefully considered. There is no option without risk and it is important to make that point again, because there are disease spread implications and a derogation applies more broadly too. We are looking at every option and in an ideal world, we would work in consultation with the North and act together. That has served us well, by and large. We are one epidemiological island. Disease control does not recognise invisible borders. We have seen this in working closely together on the avian influenza outbreaks. It was helpful to be able to introduce housing orders together. With the proliferation of the poultry industry in the Border region, that was particularly important. The Minister, Andrew Muir, and I are in regular contact. We met in Donegal last Thursday. My team of veterinary officials and his team of veterinary officials are in regular contact. They were talking earlier today. We work on that.

In response to Senator Collins, surveillance has been increased. It is risk-based too. We have a number of different ways, as I outlined in my opening address, of addressing risk, with the testing of culled cows, the testing of animals which have died for unknown reasons and in other areas where there are symptoms. Passive surveillance of all-age cattle in slaughter plants is a key area. Active surveillance of live animals in areas where modelling has demonstrated possible incursion during the autumn and has identified the outbreaks in contiguous herds. Herds that were next door to the first herd in Wexford are where the next cases came from. It is the most likely place, if it was within the midge activity last September or early October in that area. You would expect, if it is going to be found anywhere, that it will be found on the neighbouring farm. There is surveillance by regional veterinary laboratories. I pay tribute to staff on the ground who were leading the charge and working closely with private veterinary practitioners and our farmers. Sampling cows post abortion for bluetongue where calves have been slipped is a possible clinical sign too and how we identify it in some cases. That sampling has been effective. I encourage farmers to submit samples to my regional veterinary laboratories.

Low herd prevalence and between-herd prevalence makes the detection of every case difficult. We need to be mindful of that. We need to take every opportunity where there are signs. The first 11 positive cases we had in the country were all atypical. This is not simple. Not every animal that has this is showing all of the symptoms, which is a challenge. Where an animal has slipped a calf, unfortunately, in an incident where it did not seem there was any other reason, it is important to get that tested so we know where it is, because that information can help us in the time ahead. It is an evolving situation at a European level too. There are other areas where active surveillance is being rolled out, including east Cork, counties Waterford, Kilkenny, Wicklow and Louth. That is based on modelling from the UCD CVERA work.

We have many analytics of this. People would not have realised that officials in my Department were in close contact with Met Éireann all last summer. We were monitoring wind patterns during hot spells, not necessarily here but when it was hot in the UK and when it was hot in France. We looked at the wind modelling and the risk of plumes of midges coming to Ireland. That information and those wind patterns are showing where the highest risk areas are. We are actively trying to identify them and get as good a picture of that as possible.

In answer to Senator Daly's point, while this is a real worry and concern for farmers, the response to this has been relatively calm. The Senator made the point that I have not been criticised. I take that as a nod to the work officials in my Department have done. I agree with the Senator that the response has been good because farmers are reassured that everything that can be done is being done by my officials. There is real collaboration between farmers, private veterinary practitioners and our regional veterinary laboratories all around the country. My officials in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are co-ordinating that. Working with farmers and all stakeholders is important. We all need to keep doing that together. It is as it is and we have to deal with it and try to get the best outcome possible.

This is an evolving situation at a European level and my Department continues to engage with industry and counterparts not just in Northern Ireland but beyond to effectively manage this disease, and learn from those areas and parts of Europe that have had this for longer, because that is giving us clear data too. Serotype 3, which is what we have here, is the most common across Europe. It is not the only one across Europe. We have seen other serotypes. That is why decisions about derogations are important because we do not want other serotypes here. It is bad enough to have one.

The presence of bluetongue in Ireland for the first time, along with outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in November 2025, are a really timely reminder of the ever-present threat to Ireland from animal diseases. There have also been outbreaks of various other exotic diseases across the European Union during 2025 and 2026, including lumpy skin disease, foot and mouth and other serotypes of the bluetongue virus, as I outlined. Continued biosecurity and vigilance against the threat of these diseases are more important now than ever. We did not get to mention it today but in our debate in the Dáil last week, the role of climate change was reflected on. We are seeing the impact of animal diseases and exotic diseases in plants which never impacted here before. That is unfortunately part of the nature of climate change.

Industry co-operation has been vital to Ireland's disease management so far and I hope we can continue to receive this support and co-operation as we work together to minimise these risks. I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and the House for giving us the opportunity to debate this today.

I acknowledge an Seanadóir Boyle and his guests, Brendan and Sarah Brady from Donegal. I hope they enjoy their visit today.