Irish honeybee faces threat from non-native species crossing Border, Dáil hears

The Taoiseach has expressed concern about the possible extinction of the native Irish honeybee because of the continued importation of non-native species, with the Border emerging as a potential weak point in Ireland’s defence.

There has been a decline in the number of consignments of honeybees into the Republic from 1,285 in 2021 to 388 in 2023, the Dáil previously heard.

Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there were “about 330 imports” into the Republic, based on the latest data.

However, “we have thousands into the North of Ireland. That creates a problem for us.

“If things continue for the next 50 years, we potentially face the extinction of the native Irish honeybee.”

The Taoiseach was responding to Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman, who called for legislation already passed in the Seanad to go through the Dáil to ban the importation of non-native honeybee queens into Ireland, because of the hybridisation of Irish bees.

Martin acknowledged the threat to biodiversity after the Central Statistics Office last year found that, between 2006 and 2019, some 2.7 per cent of species were no longer found to exist in the State and are now considered “regionally extinct”.

A further 14.7 per cent of species are considered “at risk of extinction”, and bees are among the most endangered.

O’Gorman said about 3 per cent of bee species are regionally extinct and 30 per cent are threatened.

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“Recent research shows that up to 25 per cent of honeybees in Ireland are now non-native – a really big jump in a short period of time,” the Green Party leader said.

O’Gorman said the Department of Agriculture commissioned research to support the legislation, which began as a Green Party Bill introduced when the party was a member of the previous government.

He added that the report has been on the Minister’s desk since September 2025 and has not yet been published. The Taoiseach said he read the report in recent days and was “very concerned” about the prospects for the native Irish honeybee over a 50-70-year time frame.

Acknowledging “we need to do something in respect of protecting it”, the Taoiseach said he would work with the Green Party leader as they shared the same objective.

He said bee imports “have come a way down” to “manageable levels” following a substantial increase during the Covid-19 pandemic, but “we have no control over that into the future”.

“A memo came to the Government last week on the matter. I better be careful: I was going to say the matter is not black and white but, as the Deputy knows, that is the unique characteristic of the native Irish honeybee.”

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The importation of honeybees into Ireland is allowed under European Union regulations, and a statutory ban may constitute a restriction on trade, the Dáil previously heard.

Martin said there should be increased consumer awareness “about our native honeybee and the product from it”, which he described as “far better honey, health-wise and wellbeing-wise, for all of us, as opposed to imports”.

The Green Party leader said it was not just a question of protecting nature. “It is a question of our country’s food security.

“As regards the Irish honeybee and its hybridisation that we see at the moment, this process risks ending a unique genetic resource that has evolved very specifically towards the Irish climate.

“This process puts our bee population at risk, and there are consequences of that for food production and plant diversity.”