Member

This applies to all EU states, including the Irish Republic, so this will require checks—because Northern Ireland has, for these purposes, been lumped in with the Irish Republic—at the GB border, even if the whole of Ireland is free of Popillia japonica. Can the Minister say whether or not Ireland is free of this? If Ireland is free, then surely we should go on continuing, as we have done for perfectly pragmatic reasons, to treat the island of Ireland as a single biosecurity area. We did that for the very good reason that we know that the sea is a rather good preventer of the movement of disease. It makes it quite difficult for a disease to get from the continent to us, and even if it gets to GB, the sea stops it getting to Ireland, so it is quite sensible to treat Ireland, as we always have for pragmatic reasons, as a single biosecurity area. If Ireland is free, why do we not treat it differently from the rest of the EU? Typically, bugs and diseases start somewhere in central Asia and move across Europe. Sometimes they reach us, and if they reach us, then they threaten Ireland. They do not go in the other direction. It is very unlikely that this bug has reached Ireland without reaching us. Doubtless the Minister will be able to illuminate on that.