asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he is satisfied that all possible precautions have been taken to prevent an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in this country; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Foot and Mouth Disease.
21.
As the Deputy is, no doubt, aware, stringent veterinary controls are operated by my Department at all times on the import of livestock and livestock products, as well as on materials which might represent a disease risk.
These controls have been intensified and extended in view of the serious foot and mouth disease situation in Britain. Imports of livestock, including horses, from Britain have been totally suspended, and the importation of dogs and cats from that country has been brought under licensing control. The importation from Britain of meat products, plants, including raw vegetables, used agricultural or horticultural machinery and equipment, and vehicles and containers which have been used in Britain for the transport of live animals has been stopped.
The arrangements at ports and airports for the disinfection of persons from abroad who may have been in contact with possible sources of infection have been intensified. All persons entering the country from Britain and the Continent are required to fill in a card giving information on any possible contacts they may have had with animals or animal products and the extent of disinfection is immediately decided on the basis of the particulars on the card.
The customs authorities have been alerted to the need for the utmost vigilance in operating the various veterinary import controls, including those applying to used clothing and footwear, straw, and any meat products in personal baggage or in parcels.
Appeals have been made to the livestock and meat trade interests not to travel between Britain and Ireland during the present critical period and all cattle buyers have been asked to appoint local agents to transact their business for the present.
Visits to Britain by officers of my Department have been suspended and the universities and State and semi-State bodies who are associated with agriculture have agreed to ban visits to Britain by their staffs, save in exceptional circumstances.
Owners of marts and salesyards have been asked to display warning notices on their premises and to provide disinfection facilities at all entrances and exits. Special attention is being given to the sterilisation of all meat containers.
All outdoor officers of my Department and of the county committees of agriculture have been instructed to disinfect themselves before entering and leaving farms or farm premises, and to advise farmers to place a bath of disinfectant or straw soaked in disinfectant at the entrance to their farms or farm premises. Other Departments whose officers might visit farms in the course of their duties have been asked to issue similar instructions. All AI station personnel have also been reminded of the need for strict observance of disinfection procedures in the course of their duties.
Close liaison is maintained with the Six Counties and British veterinary authorities regarding the measures necessary to protect the country as a whole from the threat of foot and mouth disease.
While these precautionary measures may seem elaborate, I have no illusions about the risks to which this country is exposed at the present time or the appalling upset to our economy which an outbreak of the disease here would cause. The Government are considering the introduction of further safeguards, but it must be accepted that, with the widespread incidence of the disease in Britain, the danger to us will continue while people can move freely into this country, North or South, from Britain. Nothing short of the complete cessation of traffic, human and other, from Britain to this country in present circumstances would eliminate the risks to which we are now exposed. The Government can do many things by way of regulation and restriction, but the ultimate responsibility must rest on the people themselves. If everybody, and particularly people coming here from Britain, behaves sensibly and carefully, we can still keep this disease out.
Would the Minister bear in mind that when people are coming in here, through the airports in particular, they are unlikely to be wearing the clothes they had been wearing down in the country, which clothes are often packed in their trunks and that the question as to whether they have been near infection or not should be directed not merely in relation to the shoes and clothes they are wearing at the time but also to the shoes and clothes packed, perhaps, in their trunks?
Yes, we are already taking note of this. In fact, all clothes, shoes and other apparel that they might be carrying with them will come under scrutiny and disinfection in future.
In future—because it was not so last week.
It was not. That is right.
Has the Minister's attention been directed towards an order made by the NFA to assist in patrolling at the airports and ports of entry and would the Minister give favourable consideration to that suggestion because, after all, these people represent those who are vitally affected and obviously would have a particular personal interest in seeing that every step open was taken to avoid any danger of entry of the disease?
Yes; I read the offer and I also received it in writing the following day and I have since replied to it. This offer, together with any similar offers, will be gladly availed of if and when the need or the occasion arises.
Would the Minister think it absolutely necessary to advise Irish persons resident in Britain that they should not return here?
They should not, no.
Is the Minister aware that British buyers are still attending marts here and is there any way to prevent them at the entry point to the market?
Yes, I think there is. We are pursuing that at the moment. The difficulty is in detecting those who are slipping through without regard to the dangers they are bringing with them. This is really difficult.
There is an occasional one with a French accent.
And some other more local accents, unfortunately.
It may be fantastic but how costly would vaccination against foot and mouth disease be?
Extremely costly.
Prohibitive?
That is a different approach altogether.
As a former Minister for Agriculture, may I be permitted to ask two questions arising out of Deputy Corish's question and the Minister's statement? First, and I not right in saying that our dominant danger is straw in any form and is there any means by which the Minister can more emphatically emphasise to those more interested than he and I are of the appalling danger of bringing in straw either as packing, in luggage or in any other way? Secondly, am I not correct in saying that the decision to slaughter, which has been a common decision of our Government and the Government of Great Britain, has over the long term proved a much more economical and effective procedure than the decision to inoculate which might in the short term be more expensive and in the long term exclude us completely from access to markets?
As to the latter part of the Deputy's question or assertion, it is quite true that the slaughter policy adopted here and in Britain has proved in several ways to be better than vaccination and nothing has happened so far to change the view commonly accepted that the slaughter policy is the best in our circumstances.
In so far as the importation of straw or any such matter is concerned, we have taken all precautions: at least, I think we have. If anybody is aware of anything I would be very glad of immediate information from any Member of the House who may have found that there has been some slip-up but, so far as is humanly possible, we have excluded the risk of importation of any such matter.