Response to interpellations 2023/24:345, 446 and 476 on mosquito control at the lower Dalälven

Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)

Madam Speaker! Sanne Lennström has asked me what I and the government intend to do regarding the flood mosquitoes so that people can live and work around the lower Dalälven. Patrik Lundqvist has asked me if I intend to take the initiative to finance and give the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency such a mandate as has been proposed in a petition to the government from a number of county administrative boards. Anders W Jonsson has asked me what measures I and the government intend to take to secure the continued mosquito control at the lower Dalälven so that it becomes possible to spend time outdoors in the area during the summer. I have chosen to answer these interpellations collectively.

I want to start by saying that I understand that the mosquito situation can constitute an inconvenience for people who live or stay in the area around lower Dalälven or other areas with a high occurrence of flood mosquitoes. The need for control of flood mosquito larvae is largely driven by the number and extent of floods during spring and summer. I have full understanding that one can feel a concern regarding upcoming summers.

There is a regulatory framework for the use of biological control agents to reduce the occurrence of flood mosquitoes and thereby also the inconveniences that the mosquitoes bring with them. There are also other methods that can be used in combination, based on local conditions, to reduce the occurrence of flood mosquitoes in the long term, for example, mowing, grazing, ditch maintenance, and regulation of the water level.

For many years, there have been state funds available for measures to limit the mass occurrence of flood mosquitoes. From 2024, the county administrative boards have been allocated 5.4 million kronor for this purpose. How the funds have been distributed to the county administrative boards has changed in recent years. This year, these funds are distributed in their entirety directly to the county administrative boards' management appropriations. This should mean improved planning conditions and reduce the administrative burden for managing the total funds allocated.

It should also be an advantage from a planning perspective that relevant agency decisions, such as Natura 2000 permits and exemptions from the ban on spreading pesticides from aircraft, have been granted for the period 2023-2025, i.e., over several seasons where control measures can be taken.

The Government has received a petition regarding future mosquito control from the County Administrative Boards in Gävleborg, Dalarna, Uppsala, Västmanland, and Värmland counties. It is this petition that Member Lundqvist refers to in his interpellation. The matter is being prepared in the Government Offices.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Sanne Lennström (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer and for today's debate. I can promise that the interest in this issue is great in my constituency, Uppsala County. Many with me are interested in seeing the debate afterwards and hope for more positive news than what was given in the answer in this debate.

One might ask why we are all calling for a debate regarding mosquito control when it is still winter, but the municipalities at the lower Dalälven have had these problems for a longer time. Around the year 2000, it was established that the mosquito problem is based on the fact that there is a biting mosquito called Aedes sticticus. It is a more aggressive type of mosquito that can fly in sunlight. It can travel longer distances, it bites faster, and it can reproduce very quickly.

When this mosquito gets a foothold, it is not about a few mosquito bites, but it is about not being able to be outdoors. The mosquitoes are so numerous that they can come in large cloud formations. They are mosquitoes that send people to the emergency room and that make it so that children and adults cannot be out and enjoy a sunny day. Animals and humans are forced to stay inside, outdoor seating areas are closed, and it is simply difficult to both live and operate in areas around, for example, Tärnsjö.

Biologisk Myggkontroll, Nedab, has, on behalf of seven Dalälv municipalities, developed a well-functioning control method against the larvae of the flood mosquito. This agent is called Vectobac, also called BTI, and it is dispersed from the air with the help of helicopters. The goal is for the number of flood mosquitoes to be at a manageable level, and in order for us to approach this goal, competence and preparedness must be able to be ensured.

The summer of 2023 was exceptional, with major floods between May and August. In total, approximately 12,000 hectares were treated, but it was likely that approximately 20,000 hectares would have needed to be treated. During the last and largest flood, no treatment was carried out because there was no more Vectobac in stock. Government agencies have had a limit on the amount of pesticides that may be kept in stock, and lack of funding contributed to last year's serious situation.

The government must now look forward and do what is required so that people can live and work in the mosquito-affected areas. For this to be able to become a reality, three different things are required.

The first is a state responsibility in the matter. If the government wants that people should be able to live and work in the entire country, this is absolutely crucial. The state is also usually called in this context the largest state mosquito producer. This creates an obligation, so one cannot shirk the responsibility here.

The second is reasonable financing. Spreading the bacterium BTI by helicopter is not free, so a budget needs to be set in good time showing that there is money for both helicopters and Vectobac.

The third is long-term planning. One must ensure that there is a plan every year that adds up and that there is enough in stock to carry out enough number of eradications. It is a three-month delivery time on BTI.

Madam Speaker! This interpellation debate is not for me or the Minister, but it is for Gävle, Sandviken, Heby, Tierp, Älvkarleby, Sala and Avesta. We are a number of Members of Parliament here tonight who want to raise concerns from our constituencies and from these municipalities, which are very worried.

They need more money - they lack 23 million kronor. They want answers but have been met with silence. Therefore I ask: Can the Minister promise that the municipalities will receive the money and the support they need?

(Applause)

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Patrik Lundqvist (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for being here!

The municipalities in the area around lower Dalälven have for many years taken a great responsibility and built up an organization for the fight against biting midges, so that people can live, work and reside in the area. The organization is vulnerable because the municipalities have limited resources. One has limited areas, and one is many.

It has long been stated in several investigations and by several people working with these issues that the state needs to step forward and take a collective responsibility and coordinate the activities. One also needs, as Sanne pointed out, to guarantee the resources that are needed.

In the worst case, the problem could spread. We will probably hear later this evening that this is already the case. 20 years ago, when this began, it was an issue for a few in the lower Dalälv area. Now we have five county administrative boards, including Värmland, pushing for the government to take its responsibility. The presence of biting midges has also been confirmed on Gotland.

This risks becoming a national problem. Furthermore, climate change means that mosquitoes will come here from more southern areas and risk bringing diseases and other things that make the inconvenience that the mosquitoes pose, or the impossibility of living in the areas they inhabit, even worse.

It is naturally very good that the question regarding the county administrative boards' petition is being prepared in the Government Offices, but that does not answer the question that I asked. It is symptomatic for precisely these questions that one ducks, that one does not answer, or that one claims that one has not even received the questions, even if it was not the minister who is here tonight who did this. One is, however, not alone with the questions, as this concerns several in the government.

Despite what I have said so far, I would probably like to say that this is already a state matter.

My question is quite simply: What does the Minister intend to do with this petition? It is something that I will work to get an answer on. And I will not let go of this question, neither in that part nor in any other, until we have a national coordination and a national responsibility for this issue. The municipalities cannot be left to stand alone in this.

I also want to take the opportunity to make a small comparison with the 5.4 million kronor that the Minister says we will now receive. We have, of course, seen that in the budget. It was discussed here that it is now to become easier and involve less administration to apply for the money. That is, of course, good. But this does not cover the needs by a long way.

If you make a comparison with 2019, when the right-wing budget passed here in the Riksdag, the grants were choked to 2.5 million kronor. When we then returned and had to present our amendment budget, it was set at 12 million kronor. That was, therefore, in 2019. We are talking about 14.5 million kronor. Now we stand here and talk about 5.4 million kronor. It is not enough.

(Applause)

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Anders W Jonsson (C)

Madam Speaker! I submitted this interpellation because I wanted to try to calm the thousands of people at home who are now extremely worried about what we will face during this summer.

But this answer makes me even more worried. For the first thing is that this is an answer that was not only written by a liberal minister with roots in the Stockholm region, but this is, therefore, an interpellation answer that the entire government stands behind, including the Moderates and Christian Democrats. But no one from these parties is appearing in the chamber tonight.

Secondly, the way the Minister approaches the issue worries me. She says: "I understand that the mosquito situation can constitute an inconvenience for people who live or stay in the area around lower Dalälven." She says that the mosquito situation can constitute an inconvenience. The thousands of people who have been affected by this mosquito hell, I believe, think it is nearly unreasonable to speak of an inconvenience, i.e., a disadvantage or a discomfort.

There was an environment minister in the early 2000s named Kjell Larsson who also expressed himself in approximately this way. One stood up then as a man in the district and demanded that the minister should come and experience what this entails.

It is not about a few mosquitoes, it is about something that destroys an entire region. It has serious consequences regarding public health. It creates a huge amount of anxiety ahead of the summer regarding what is to come. It lays a dead hand on rural development. Who wants to start and run a business in an area where one cannot stay outdoors at all? If you open the car door, you are attacked by tens of thousands of mosquitoes. If you crawl back into the car, you take the mosquitoes with you into the car, which makes it almost impossible to drive away from there. This means problems for livestock farming, and it means very large problems regarding food supply in general.

This is a very big problem, not only for the thousands of people who risk being affected but also for many others.

For the third time, I am also surprised when the Minister points out that there indeed are other methods. One can perform mowing and grazing. It is almost cute if one thinks that one can combat this occurrence of biting midges with the help of mowing and grazing. There are no studies on that at all. If it is to be made possible to stay in the area, one must therefore reduce the level by 90 percent. These are things that make marginal changes.

Finally, regarding this with the regulation of the water level: If one drained out this entire area and got rid of all the flooding, one would of course not have any flood mosquitoes. But then I want to remind the Minister that this actually concerns a national park with surrounding nature reserves. And I have not previously heard anyone even have brought up that one should regulate the water level in the national park.

There is, as several have previously said, a very great concern. There is today a method to combat it, and it is Vectobac. There is now in stock approximately as much as can be used to combat 5,000 hectares. Last summer, 12,000 hectares were combated. The need was 20,000 hectares.

The question now is: What will the Minister do to ensure that this summer does not become a hell for all the people who live and stay in these areas? That requires two things, partly a strong financial supplement, and partly a long-term solution, which the county administrative boards have pointed out on several occasions. It is these answers that we want from the Minister here and now.

(Applause)

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Catarina Deremar (C)

Madam Speaker! For something to be sustainable at its core, it requires at least two things, and they are knowledge, or science, if you will, and funding. The knowledge has been developed over many years in Nedab when it comes to the fight against biting mosquitoes. The funding needs to be secured over time, and that is where the state comes in.

It is clear that there have been uncertainties within the government regarding who is responsible for the mosquito issue, which is not just an inconvenience, as Minister Pourmokhtari says, but a pure plague for those who live and stay in the area. Everyone who has ever visited this area during the summer knows this.

Madam Speaker! I believe that everyone who read Sala Allehanda's article in connection with this interpellation debate gained hope that the state is now finally taking action.

Riksdag colleague Mikael Oscarsson writes: The area concerned at lower Dalälven is largely state land, and the seven municipalities have had an agreement for many years. The municipalities cover the costs for organization and personnel, and the state covers the costs for pesticides and helicopter rental.

My colleague on the Uppsala bench continues: This agreement is reasonable, and as a member of Parliament, I will continue to work to uphold it. Now is the time to order Vectobac G so that this year's control can be secured.

Member Oscarsson is certainly right in what he says about it being high time to order. But I want to ask the Minister: Is it correct that the state covers the cost for pesticides and helicopters so that effective mosquito control can be carried out and so that it is possible to live and stay in the mosquito-affected area?

(Applause)

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Åsa Eriksson (S)

Madam Speaker! I want to start by thanking members Sanne Lennström, Patrik Lundqvist and Anders W Jonsson for this incredibly important debate. It is very many people who suffer from the mosquito hell. I think Anders W Jonsson expressed it very clearly. For many people in Västmanland, especially perhaps in the Sala area, this is a plague during summer and early autumn.

Madam Speaker! We have now heard that pesticides now exist in an amount equivalent to a quarter of what is estimated to have been needed last year. And there are means so that one can order just as much more. But then the funding for performing the actual control disappears. Then nothing happens at all. It becomes even worse.

The municipalities bear the largest cost for the mosquito control, and what has been requested from the government in terms of funding is the actual purchase of pesticides and the helicopter flights.

I agree with previous speakers. The Government can speak sympathetically here about this being an inconvenience. But those who have experienced the mosquito hell know what it is like and that measures must be taken so that one can stay there at all.

A notification of increased, and substantial, state funding is needed immediately because what we have heard is a long delivery time for the means. It is indeed time to present the supplementary budget - can we perhaps hope that the state contributes its share of the funding in that? It would be welcome, and it would be good to have a notification here tonight. I believe those watching the debate would truly appreciate that.

Madam Speaker! I want to quote Gerhard Winroth, who lives in Möklinta in Sala municipality, regarding the mosquito plague. He says: "The quality of life is declining, the grandchildren get such large rashes that they cannot be here." I do not live in any of the worst-affected areas myself, but still, we had difficulty being outdoors at times this summer. It was practically impossible to mow the grass, and the horses were so stressed by the mosquitoes that they bolted. Everyone, from preschool children on an excursion to tourists and outdoor workers, is affected. The tourism industry in the affected locations risks being completely wiped out.

Madam Speaker! Amanda Lindblad, who is the chair of the municipal executive board in Sala, is disappointed. She says that unfortunately, no feedback at all has been received on the letter that municipal councilors in seven affected municipalities submitted to the government last autumn. The county administrative boards have conducted an investigation stating that the state must take greater responsibility in these matters, but no decision is forthcoming. On the other hand, the mosquito larvae will soon hatch.

Therefore, I want to ask the Minister: When does the government intend to answer the municipalities concerned?

(Applause)

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Lars Isacsson (S)

Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking the interpellants for the questions and the Minister for the answers.

The reference value for significant mosquito problems is 2,000 mosquitoes per night in a so-called mosquito trap. Under 500 mosquitoes is designated as an acceptable level. If one has 5,000 mosquitoes per trap and night, it is considered a very large mosquito problem, and at 10,000 mosquitoes per night, the limit for intolerable mosquito problems for both humans and animals is passed. In 2008, a maximum of 77,000 mosquitoes per night was measured in a single mosquito trap in the area around lower Dalälven. When the acceptable level is 500 mosquitoes, 77,000 becomes significantly more than an inconvenience, as the minister expressed it.

I come from Avesta myself, where three and a half miles of the Dalälven river flow through the municipality, and during my twelve years as the chairman of the municipal executive board, this was an issue that was constantly relevant. As highlighted by the other interpellants, the municipalities in the lower Dalälv area have a cooperation in a development forum called Neda. The focus areas for the Lower Dalälv Cooperation are tourism and other entrepreneurship, migration to the region, coordination between stakeholders across administrative boundaries, as well as a diversified business sector and improved infrastructure.

I am convinced that the municipal council members who work with this like me would have loved to work with the tourism industry, migration, and improved infrastructure, but unfortunately, all the focus in Nedre Dalälvssamarbetet falls on mosquito control: How will we get permission next year? How will we get funding? Who do we have to talk to? Decisions on funds for mosquito control always come too late – it must be decided the year before the control for it to work.

The municipalities and regions are carrying a heavy burden. In the municipalities, there is a rescue service to manage the mosquito control, and the state needs to take responsibility for the actual control cost. The goal of the biting mosquito control is, in fact, to reduce the amount of flood mosquitoes to acceptable levels so that people can live, reside, work, and visit the area - and not only that, but people should also be able to enjoy living in the lower Dalälv area.

Madam Speaker! I ask the Minister: When will the government address the petitions and requests regarding funding for future mosquito control from the county administrative boards in Gävleborg, Dalarna, Uppsala, Västmanland, and Värmland counties?

(Applause)

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Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)

Madam Speaker! I thank all members for the great commitment to this issue. It is fantastic that so many of us can discuss this.

I must unfortunately begin by regretting member Anders W Jonsson's choice to focus on which part of the country I come from and that it is an environment minister from Stockholm who has written the response. I really do not think that such remarks benefit either the work we all here are trying to do to take care of our entire long country and realm or the discussion I hope we are all looking for, namely what we can do in practice and how we, with a functioning fight as effective as possible, will address the issues that arise. That could be in focus instead of which part of the country I come from. But everyone does their thing, so to speak.

As the members mention, the state has a part in this work. It is primarily about ensuring that the funding is in place so that the mosquitoes can be fought, quite simply. For many years back, there have been state funds for this purpose. From the current year, 2024, we have moved these funds to the county administrative boards themselves.

One reason for this is, which some of the members mentioned that I took up in my response, that we want to reduce the administrative burden of coordination between several different parts that must interact when carrying out the control measures - for example, agency decisions regarding Natura 2000 permits, exemptions from the ban on spreading pesticides from aircraft, and so on.

It is also about the improved planning conditions, and there I can still state that the government, like the members, has seen a need. There is a lack of opportunity to plan the combat measure one wants to implement to a proper extent. One should be able to have a proper time margin so that the funds one receives are deployed in time before the measures are to be carried out.

It was mentioned by a member that the municipalities should not stand alone, and that is absolutely correct. Of course, the municipalities should not stand alone, and it is very important that the state continues to contribute with funding for these measures. There are also many different pieces in this that one can mention.

The government has taken measures in such a way that the funding no longer goes partly through Naturvårdsverket and partly through Jordbruksverket, as we know that this, for example, has created a hurdle in the work. All funding to combat the mass occurrence of flood mosquitoes is now directly with the county administrative boards, and we hope that this will have a positive effect.

We are also working with the views that have been submitted to the government. I would have liked to be able to give an answer today on how we handle this, but the members know very well why I need to refer to the wording that this concerns matters being prepared within the Government Offices. That is simply how the order is in the state power. What we can state, however, is that this is a problem that we all want to address, and I hope that the debate can focus less on what strong words one manages to use regarding this problem and more on how we can actually solve it in the best way.

Funding is one part, but another part is, for example, that we need to know more about how this type of combat is carried out in an effective way. This that there are no studies at all on whether other measures have an effect simply does not hold up, Madam Speaker. It is scientifically anchored that there are many measures one can take to reduce the occurrence of these mosquitoes.

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Sanne Lennström (S)

Madam Speaker! I regret that we still do not receive any concrete answers to questions that actually cause anxiety among thousands of residents in the constituencies that we members who are here today represent. Even within the tourism industry, there is great concern, because one is completely dependent on a functioning tick control to be able to develop and for the visitors to be able to enjoy themselves and return. This is quite simply a question that concerns the municipalities' survival.

In a changing climate with larger and more frequent floods, the preparedness for control in these areas needs to increase. The summer of 2023 was, as has been described here, exceptional with the largest and most frequent floods in decades. During the fourth and largest flood, no control was carried out because there was not enough Vectobac in stock. A competent organization was on site but could not perform its job when both control agents and funding for other control costs were lacking.

The municipalities that have written and pleaded to the government need their money - more money than those the Minister mentioned. As Member Eriksson mentioned, they have also not received an answer. The money, the pesticide, and a plan for how the spraying shall take place must be in place before the spring floods arrive, regardless of preparations in the Government Offices.

Locally, even the government parties in opinion pieces directed at the government have pointed out that their own ministers should act, but they are met with silence.

Nor neither do the media seem to receive answers. UNT sent several emails with questions to the Minister for the Environment, whose press secretary stated that she does not answer operational questions regarding mosquito control and instead referred to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The agency, in turn, refers to, for example, the County Administrative Board in Gävleborg, which to some extent refers back to the government.

Responsibility is required in this matter for anything to happen. The threat of the biting midge invasion is imminent. It is here and now, and it creates anxiety - not a mild inconvenience - among the population in our constituencies.

The residents deserve answers. These mosquitoes are a health hazard, and there is also fear that they could develop diseases that we have not seen before and that could be spread in these areas.

The government cannot continue to evade its responsibility. The government has a responsibility to ensure that people can live and work in the areas around the lower Dalälven. But since I suspect that the Minister, with reference to preparations, will not give me any answers regarding money or measures, I pose another question, which I hope the Minister will not evade. If she evades this question, I can promise many more interpellation debates until I receive an answer.

If the government does not give the municipalities the money they request and the necessary combat in these areas remains absent, can the Minister then imagine coming to a picnic in Tärnsjö where we can discuss this issue? This has historically been a very effective measure. In that case, the dress code is summer dress, shorts, or a summer shirt.

Will the Minister accept such an invitation? Then we shall see if the Minister thinks it is an inconvenience to be there or if it is downright a hell, as we have talked about here.

(Applause)

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Patrik Lundqvist (S)

Madam Speaker! I had my first political assignment in the building and environment committee in Sandviken Municipality in 2006. I don't remember that many cases we had in the committee during my first time there, but I remember the folders with investigations on BTI and its effects on all possible mosquitoes and other insects. Memory can change over time, but I remember it as that we received half-meter-high stacks of A4 prints where the effects on different species were explained.

As the Minister mentioned, a great deal of research has been conducted on both pesticides and other methods to reduce the occurrence of biting mosquitoes. Certainly, there are other methods that can marginally reduce the amount of biting mosquitoes, but as Lars Isacsson pointed out when he stood here in the speaker's chair earlier, one will not come anywhere near the levels required for people to be able to live and reside in the area with any other method than BTI.

This is something that we must use so that people can have a region to live and work in. We will not get away from it with any other methods, regardless of how many times the municipalities, county administrative boards, and others investigate different effects. It is high time that we let go of it and begin to realize what situation we are actually in and what we have ahead of us to do. For this, it requires significantly more money than what is on the table today, regardless of how easy it is to obtain a share of them.

I would like to issue a final reminder: Make sure to deliver the funds that are needed! The municipalities do not care one bit about which path the money takes to arrive so that it can be used for this, as long as it arrives on time. The same applies to the residents in the area. The money must come, and it must go to BTI-combating.

(Applause)

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Anders W Jonsson (C)

Madam Speaker! My purpose with the interpellation was in some way to create peace and quiet at home in the regions of Hedesunda, Österfärnebo, Kågbo, and Lågbo, but everyone following the debate realizes that we in Sweden now once again have an Environment Minister who describes the gigantic problem with flood mosquitoes in the lower Dalälv area as that the mosquito situation may constitute an inconvenience for persons who live or stay in the area.

It creates even more anxiety, because it brings the realization that we have a minister who does not understand the scope of this and who does not understand that it lays a dead hand over rural development in this entire beautiful area, where the Dalälven is at its most beautiful. It stops the possibilities for food production, creates mental ill-health, and makes it so that one cannot stay outdoors in these beautiful areas at all. People sit in their houses and tape up windows to keep out a single mosquito. This creates anxiety.

I think Sanne Lennström came forward with an excellent proposal. The Minister can make a visit during the summer. It could be that it becomes a summer with scorching heat and no mosquitoes, but the risk is obvious that it will be something completely different. In that case, I assume that the Minister will come to the lower Dalälv area and investigate whether this could constitute an inconvenience for people.

The Minister is also welcome to bring along the officials from the Ministry of the Environment who have authored this response. We, who have been working on this issue for more than 20 years, recognized the tone, not only from those coming from Stockholm but also from other parts of the country. A few mosquitoes can't be that dangerous, can they? I hiked in the mountains a few years ago, and there were mosquitoes there too. It may sound that way, but if one says that, one does not understand the magnitude of what is happening in the lower Dalälven area. It is this that creates concern.

We who have followed this issue for far too many years have constantly been told by officials at the Ministry of the Environment, certain environment ministers, and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency that there are other methods and that one can have cows and sheep grazing or have hay meadows. This shows that the individuals have, for the most part, not been in this area. It concerns tens of thousands of hectares, and these methods have been tested in a small and geographically limited area. It is not about what is required here, that is, to reduce the mosquito occurrence by more than 90 percent. This is what is needed for people to be able to stay in this area at all.

As I said in my previous post, I am also concerned that this is a response that is not only backed by the Minister for the Environment, but it is coordinated at the Government Offices. This is co-signed by both the Christian Democrats and the Moderates, who otherwise usually are very active in this debate, not least on the home front.

Two concrete measures are required here.

One is to ensure that there are sufficient economic resources to purchase enough pesticides so that it suffices. Now we have enough pesticides to cover 5,000 hectares. If it is just one spring flood, perhaps we can manage with that, but if it is as it usually is – a spring flood, a mountain flood, and in addition large amounts of rainfall – it will not be enough.

The second is that the Minister ensures that we get a long-term solution to this with a stable organization standing behind it all. County Administrative Boards, municipalities, and Neda have said that they are prepared to cooperate in that, and that is what is needed. I understand, however, that the Minister will not settle for that if the starting point is that this could constitute an inconvenience for individuals. Then the measures will not be sufficiently sharp.

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Catarina Deremar (C)

Madam Speaker! I am, as the Minister, glad that many are engaged in this issue.

Before I started in the Riksdag, I was a local politician for a long time, and in Tierp Municipality, I have followed the mosquito issue for many years. I have been on a mosquito safari in Gysinge, and I think the Minister should consider that invitation with a coffee basket, if she is not busy that day. Of all the study visits I have made during my years as a politician, this is something I will never forget. When the farmer who had fenced off to take out his animals for summer grazing left the pasture, the animals followed back to the barn. The girls' and boys' teams in football were not allowed to play home matches until late in the autumn because it was not possible to invite other children and youth to the home ground.

The question remains. We need to have a long-term perspective and secure this. We must move away from a gigantic number of biting mosquitoes. We must not end up there again but must keep it at today's level. Over the last five years, fewer than 500 mosquitoes per night and trap have been found in the traps. The control must continue and be secured.

(Applause)

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Åsa Eriksson (S)

Madam Speaker! I have two questions for the Minister. Number one: Does the Minister agree that all of Sweden should live, including the communities by the lower Dalälven that suffer from flooding mosquitoes? Number two: Will they receive an answer to their petition and notification of substantial financial support from the state for mosquito control in the autumn budget?

(Applause)

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Lars Isacsson (S)

Madam Speaker! As a municipal councillor, I was often told that the long-term solution to the mosquito problem was wetlands and a more regulated hydropower with smaller fluctuations. The Minister for the Environment also includes this in his answer as an example of solutions.

The Minister for the Environment and I have previously debated the short-term regulation in the lower Dalälven and the impact it has on people and animals in the area when the water level varies by 50-100 centimeters per day and the shoreline can change by 50-150 meters with one day's notice. The answer from the Minister for the Environment in that debate was that a new environmental assessment for the lower Dalälven area shall be conducted in 2034. But a potential solution or partial solution in 2034 reassures no one in this area.

Fighting the flood mosquitoes in the lower Dalälven is not a project. They will not disappear, and there are no alternative methods that provide tolerable living conditions and ensure that people in the area can be at peace with their children and animals being outdoors during the summer half-year and that more tourists can visit the biosphere area with its unique fishing and unique nature.

Madam Speaker and the Minister for the Environment! Here, the state must be clear and demonstrate long-term rules of the game. Leadership from the government is needed, because it does not facilitate matters for these seven municipalities to be a border area. The Lower Dalälv area lies geographically in Dalarna, Västmanland, Gävleborg, and Uppland. It is a fantastic location, but it is not quite as fantastic for seven municipalities to try to coordinate with four county administrative boards when they want a clear plan and funding.

(Applause)

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Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)

Madam Speaker! I thank the members for many questions and arguments in this interpellation debate.

It feels like the debate is moving in the direction that measures are needed to combat the mosquitoes, and here we are in complete agreement. The other possibilities the government mentions to reduce the problem, the government does not see as a solution to this, but the government is well aware that pesticides are needed to push back the mosquitoes.

I also perceive that there is a will to change the form of this work. A need to act to succeed with this is mentioned, and that municipal boundaries and different counties pose a problem for managing the fight. The Government, however, perceives that there is a well-developed system where the state contributes with the funding and where the measures are best carried out closest to the problem itself. I do not know if there are any other positions here, but we see a potential improvement this year given that it is not state agencies that provide the funds, but that the funds are closer to the decision at the county administrative boards and that this can contribute to better success with this work.

Of course, it is not only how the measures are carried out that is important, but that there are sufficient funds, and I have great understanding that a much greater need is seen than what the state has financed in the 2024 state budget. But as the members are well aware, I cannot precede the process with a petition to the Government Offices by deciding on my own initiative to meet the need that the counties have presented, as the petition needs to be processed. Naturally, the counties shall receive answers to the questions they have asked the government, but there is an order to adhere to where I cannot freely reflect on which funds we have at our disposal.

Let me be clear once again that we see that a control measure needs to be implemented. The efforts need to be made close to those who are affected, and they need to be more effective. We see that this is a real problem, and I regret that there is an upset over the government's words that it could constitute an inconvenience. The government often expresses itself in a formal and not emotional way in the responses. We are, however, well aware that this work needs to be carried out with control measures, even though we choose to mention that there are other efforts and methods that have an effect on the mosquito population.

I look forward to continuing the debate and can only regret that I cannot provide answers to the motion in this debate, but that is how the order is.

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Sanne Lennström (S)

Madam Speaker! I must say that I take the debate here today seriously. It is serious from a democratic point of view. It is not only that we feel that the government is relativizing the problem slightly, but also because the municipalities did not receive answers on how they intend to solve the mosquito plague. There were other answers to give. The media did not receive answers either. Not even the government parties' own local politicians have received answers when they have written opinion pieces against their own government.

That is why I and two members wrote a request for a debate on this subject. First, you in the government could not agree on which of you should take the debate here today. Then it took almost two months before the debate took place, which is much longer than the practice in this chamber.

When we then get the debate, we feel that we are not getting any answers. The Minister speaks about things being prepared, and we get a situation description of things we already know. I feel that this is deeply problematic, but we do not give up. The Government must shoulder its responsibility and stand up for people so that they can live and operate in the areas around the lower Dalälven without risking having to call an ambulance because of the mosquitoes. I have also, like several other members here, heard stories from home, for example from Tärnsjö, about instances where people have had to call an ambulance for guests because they have received too many mosquito bites.

The invitation remains. The Minister is warmly welcome to Österfärnebo or Tärnsjö. I believe she will be extremely quick with an announcement if we discuss the issue in such an environment. I believe the Minister can actually answer the request to come for a picnic during a forenoon without having to prepare it in the Government Offices.

(Applause)

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Patrik Lundqvist (S)

Madam Speaker! It has been an interesting discussion. That is what they say. In my previous contribution, I spoke a little about my beginnings in politics. When I came here to the Riksdag after the 2014 election, we also discussed these issues. We have discussed them since then, every other year. Ministers, civil servants, and staff at the ministry have come and gone, as has the ministry itself for that part. But every other year, there has been a struggle over both funds and the handling of these issues.

I am extremely pleased that we have managed to reach a point where we get multi-year decisions to fight [the issue] at all. But a lot more was needed, and we still have a long way to go.

The funding has been cut. It looked worse last year than it has in many years. This continues now. The money that is currently available is not enough by a long way, and decisions were needed. I also understand all formal processes, and we shall see where it lands in the supplementary budget. But I expect that even this government, just like previous governments, however reluctantly it may have been on their part, actually delivers so that people have a bearable existence in these areas. Then we will have to return to the long-term perspective and the state's responsibility for coordination and tackling [the issues] in more places at some point in the future, for I do not believe that we will land in a satisfactory situation this year, unfortunately. Thank you for the debate!

(Applause)

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Anders W Jonsson (C)

Madam Speaker! I still think we have made some steps forward in the debate. Step one is to make the Minister for the Environment understand how serious the problem is. It is not about that it "may constitute an inconvenience," as the Minister wrote in his response.

There we have an opportunity, and hands have been extended, namely a visit this summer to the area around the lower Dalälven. It is only when one has felt what it is like that one understands how serious this is.

Step two is what I heard the minister say, namely that the state shall have a financing responsibility. It is this that the Christian Democrat Oscarsson has also said. The state shall provide the helicopter, and furthermore, the state shall provide the control agent. But the problem is that the money has not been sufficient. What is in stock now corresponds to 5,000 hectares of treated area. It is a spring flood and possibly a half mountain flood. Last summer, the equivalent of 12,000 hectares was used, but the equivalent of 20,000 hectares had been needed.

The method that the government can use, if one takes this seriously, is to allocate funds in the supplementary budget. If we listen to the Moderates and one or another Christian Democrat from these constituencies, we are told that there is no opposition from them. It will therefore be an open target for the Minister for the Environment if she demands additional millions in the supplementary budget to be able to carry out the required measures.

The final step is to find a long-term solution regarding the organization. Today, it is one, two, or perhaps three people in Sweden who have the competence to drive this. There, we must have a long-term solution where we secure this. We see that what was initially a problem around lower Dalälven is now also present in other parts of Sweden.

But the first step is, as said, that the Minister for the Environment can now, I hope, give notice that she is prepared to visit this area this summer during the mosquito season.

(Applause)

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Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)

Madam Speaker! Once again, thanks to the members for the great commitment to this issue!

It is positive if it is perceived as a major change that I am now raising this regarding the choice of words. The expression "inconvenience" was not the main problem I read into it when I entered the debate, but rather I expected more that we would discuss how the control measures are implemented in the best way. I thought that someone might perhaps mention the new report that the agency Formas has produced on how the control agents affect the natural environment and the possibility of having a tolerable living environment in the areas affected by these amounts of aggressive mosquitoes. It was rather there that I thought the discussion would land.

It is interesting to receive an invitation to a picnic. I immediately think of the problems that would arise because I am one of those people for whom one would have needed to call an ambulance. I am quite strongly affected by mosquito bites and have had to seek medical care several times for this. But if nothing else, I can assure you that it at least makes me well aware of what inconvenience the mosquitoes can cause and how much it affects the possibility of living and residing in areas that are heavily affected by this.

Of course the state shall do its part in this. When I mean that one will obviously receive answers, I am not referring to all the questions that come to the government in various forums, but I am referring to the petition that has been submitted formally. It is that one I mean the government handles. I can only regret that my press secretary was not able to provide answers at the time the question arose.

We are, therefore, in complete agreement that these control measures shall be implemented and that the state has a responsibility in this.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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