Ireland's snail farmers want common sense guidelines

“But because a snail is deemed an animal in Ireland, it is necessary to have the same documentation to process each snail as for a cow,” he said.

Calling for common sense, he said there is a fair difference between a snail and a cow, but in the Irish Government’s eye a snail is the equivalent of a cow.

Deputy Healy-Rae explained that in snail farming, there is a requirement that all live, farmed Irish snails must be shipped to Greece to be processed and then be shipped back to the Irish snail farms, where they can be jarred and sold as a processed product. “This is laughable,” he said.

"We must bear in mind that a tonne of snails contains approximately 115,000 snails. This is an absolutely insane situation. How can two member countries of the EU have totally different rules for this agricultural sector?"

He urged the Government to support Escargot, an umbrella group that flies the flag for the snail farmers of Ireland.

“Snail farming must be recognised as a viable farming enterprise and snail farmers need to be included in possible grants and funding for farm diversification aid.

“The classification of snails must also be brought on par with the rest of Europe and changed to consider snails as shellfish,” he said.

"We are talking about diversifying farming, and I am pushing all the time for the generation of off-farm income. I refer to people who can diversify into other methods of farming and make an income in that way, such as those who go into producing cheese or sowing a little bit of forestry."

Minister of State Pippa Hackett replied that climatic conditions in Ireland are suitable for year-round snail breeding.

Bord Bia conducted research in 2018 which showed the strong export market potential for snails, particularly in Europe.

A helpful Teagasc guidance document on snail farming is available on its website. Further advisory support is available through its Options for Farm Families programme.

Snail farmers who intend to process snails for human consumption must be registered with their local Department Regional Development Office.

They must also be approved to operate as a food business operator with the Department's meat hygiene division. All food intended for human consumption must meet European Union food law requirements.

To date, there are no Department-approved food business operators processing snails for human consumption in Ireland.

And there are currently no schemes under the rural development programme to support snail farming.

However, the sector may benefit from wider supports, such as Enterprise Ireland's innovation voucher scheme, for which the Teagasc food research centres are knowledge providers.

This scheme awards vouchers of €5,000 to small companies with a business opportunity or problem. The voucher can be exchanged for advice and expertise.

Minister Hackett said she took the Deputy’s point on snails being classified as animals. Certainly, a gastropod is not the same as a mammal or a vertebrate, such as a cow. To compare the two so bluntly is unfair.

“Cows have individual herd identifiers and identity cards; individual snails do not, as far as I am aware.

“The comparison is a bit flippant when, in fact, snail farming is a viable and diverse practice for anyone to consider getting into,” she said.

The Minister said there is scope for existing snail farmers to register as food business operators. Maybe there is something the Department could do to encourage farmers to examine.

“If we are exporting snails to Greece only to bring them back again, it seems ludicrous. Maybe there is work we could do in that regard.

“On the definition of snails, I do not know offhand why we choose to identify them as animals as opposed to fish.

“Maybe we can look into that also. I cannot make any promises here in the Chamber, but it is all for discussion. I accept the bones of the Deputy’s arguments on this,” she said.

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue, stated in a subsequent written reply to Deputy Healy-Rae, that snails intended for human consumption are defined in EU food regulations as terrestrial gastropods.

“My Department has no flexibility in respect of the classification of snails for human consumption,” he said.

Minister McConalogue further explained in a written reply to Deputy Matt Carthy that if a person farming snails has eligible hectares and a herd number they can submit an application for the Basic Payment Scheme, which does not differentiate between types of farms.

Meanwhile, there are currently over 30 registered snail farmers countrywide. The process of raising edible land snails, is a niche farming concept and, according to Teagasc, it has evolved here in recent years.

But the enterprise requires a lot of time and manpower. The work time of a farmer producing 10 tonnes of snail, is estimated at 2,000 hours per year, excluding processing and commercialisation.

Western European snail farmers are currently coming under increasing competition from Eastern European countries, such as Poland, with lower costs.

While there is a growing demand in the Middle East and Asia for Irish snails, the big distributors in Europe are not interested in dealing with individual farms. They want to buy in bulk.

Teagasc says this is where Irish producers need to focus their business models. A centralised producer hub will be necessary to help mobilise and distribute the produce from indigenous Irish snail farmers.