asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will consider having the Exchequer bear the full cost of applying the general autumn dressing for warbles in view of the fact that the reintroduction of the general autumn dressing would not now be necessary if it had not been discontinued by his Department in 1967.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Warble Fly Eradication.
19.
I cannot accept the statement in the second part of the question.
Previous general dressing campaigns were paid for by the herdowners and they would therefore have also paid if there had been a general campaign in 1967.
Moreover, there are no funds in the Vote for my Department which could be used to pay the cost of general autumn dressing for warbles.
Is the Minister not aware that this campaign was discontinued before the warble fly had been properly eradicated? Had it been properly eradicated then it would not be necessary now to re-introduce the scheme. Its withdrawal in 1967 was a departmental decision and the cost should therefore be borne by the Department and not by the farmers.
I do not accept that. The Deputy should be aware of the real facts. There has been a recrudescence of warble fly infestation. I believe eradication will have to be a continuous process and there will have to be constant vigilance to ensure against infestation, something similar to the vigilance exercised in the case of bovine tuberculosis eradication. Part of the onus must fall on the farmers. The original eradication scheme demonstrated the benefits, but many of us are to blame in that we were not thorough enough in carrying out the scheme. Every rural Deputy is aware that there was a certain reluctance to dress in-calf cows and this enabled the warble fly to survive.
Would the Minister not agree it is very difficult to regard the scheme as having been a worthwhile one when infestation has recurred three years after the cessation of the scheme, infestation to almost the same level at which it was prior to the scheme? There is something radically wrong.
I do not think we can ever completely eradicate warble fly unless we get absolute co-operation from every herd owner in the country, and that is a very difficult thing to get.
That is a different thing from having a tenfold increase in infestation within three years.
Would the Minister consider dressing the cattle against the blue card? This is the only way in which the scheme could be effectively operated. The blue card is checked and that will ensure that every animal will be dressed.
There is a later question on this particular subject.
20.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will make provision to have the blue cards of all cattle dressed for warbles specially stamped so as to ensure that all cattle are presented for dressing.
Alternatives to the present method of certifying that cattle have been dressed for warbles, including the method suggested by the Deputy, are at present under examination.
When can a decision be expected?
I do not think it should take too long. It is a question of determining the best way of identifying animals that have been dressed. The present system is the little green card. There may be a better way. I do not know.