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Minister Heydon leads Ireland's participation at FAO Global Conference on One Health in Agrifood Systems
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Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, today addressed the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Global Conference on Actions on One Health in Agrifood Systems at the FAO Headquarters in Rome, setting out Ireland's priorities for delivering on One Health commitments internationally.
Speaking at the High-Level Ministerial Session, Translating Commitments to One Health Actions in Agri-food Systems, Minister Heydon pointed to the recent EU Council Conclusions on One Health, which emphasise that long-term food security depends on protecting plant, animal and ecosystem health through a holistic, research-driven approach, and that One Health provides the framework to address interconnected agrifood challenges.
The Minister’s speech raised four specific issues: that plant health be funded as a genuine pillar of One Health investment rather than an afterthought; that antimicrobial resistance financing keep pace with a threat that crosses borders and sectors; that new mechanisms such as the proposed One Health knowledge and intelligence hub replace, not duplicate, existing reporting obligations; and that the Quadripartite and its standard-setting bodies, Codex, World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), operate as one coordinated system to protect predictable, science-based trade.
Minister Heydon said:
"History will judge this conference not by its closing statement, but by its consequences. A year from now, will a farmer, a veterinarian, or a public health official be able to point to something that changed because of what we agreed in Rome this week? We require no new institutions and no new declarations, only action from the institutions already in this room under the mandates they already hold."
Ireland cited its own delivery record, including a national electronic veterinary prescription system, a third One Health National Action Plan on Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and a national cattle breeding programme aligning animal health with farm sustainability.
Earlier in the day, the Minister inaugurated the Ireland Meitheal Room at FAO Headquarters, a space furnished by Ireland for informal, off-the-record negotiation between delegations. He said:
"A Meitheal is a traditional Irish practice: neighbours coming together to tackle work too large for any one household alone. Consider this room an instrument of that tradition, not a room for speeches, but for the harder, quieter work that happens between them."
The Minister also addressed the International Year of the Woman Farmer and International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists sessions, drawing on Irish examples, including initiatives supporting women in farming and the Burren Winterage, to illustrate the interdependence of animal, land and human health.
Notes
The FAO Global Conference on Actions on One Health in Agrifood Systems took place at FAO Headquarters, Rome, alongside a Global Youth Forum on One Health.
Ireland has been a member of FAO since 1946 and was elected to the FAO Council last year for the first time in over a decade.
EU Council conclusions on One Health in agrifood systems were adopted at the AGRIFISH Council on 13 July
The Ireland Meitheal Room was furnished with artwork provided by Gillian Murphy.