New regulations to control any outbreak of avian flu including low pathogen H5N1, commonly called "avian light", have been introduced by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan.
The new regulations give effect in Irish law to three pieces of EU legislation, two of which replace existing legislation while the third gives effect to an EU directive.
The regulations implementing the directive, update and extend the provisions of a 1992 directive setting down community measures for the control of avian influenza in the light of scientific knowledge, new laboratory tests and vaccines. They provide for the establishment of protection and surveillance zones in the event of a suspect or confirmed outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Ireland and the measures to be applied in those zones and at a range of locations where outbreaks are suspected or confirmed.