Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help her counterpart in Northern Ireland tackle Asian hornets.

Defra and staff from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) have worked closely with officials from Northern Ireland to help them prepare and publish a contingency plan for action against Asian hornets. A sighting of Asian hornet was reported on 10^th October close to Dundonald in Northern Ireland. Inspectors from the APHA National Bee Unit and the APHA Non-Native Species Inspectorate have drawn on their extensive experience and provided support to officials in Northern Ireland about deployment of the contingency plan to find and destroy a nest.