asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if failure to produce a certificate of having been dressed under the warble fly eradication scheme will have an effect on beasts' eligibility for the beef incentive scheme or its right of access to the United Kingdom market.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Warble Fly Eradication.
11.
The fact that an animal has not been dressed against warble fly this year will not be reckoned in determining its eligibility under the beef cattle incentive scheme or affect its right of access to the British market.
Under an order made by the Northern Ireland Ministry of Agriculture last May the importation from this State of cattle bearing visible evidence of warble infestation is prohibited.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that information contray to that contained in his reply is being circulated as an inducement to farmers to get their cattle dressed at the full 4s. per beast?
I am not so aware.
I would ask the Parliamentary Secretary to investigate this.
12.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries what steps he is taking to make anti-warble fly dressing available to farmers who wish to dress their own cattle.
13.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries what assistance and encouragement he will give to the NFA in its efforts to use its organisational network as a means of distributing anti-warble fly dressing to farmers at minimum cost.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 13 together.
A warble fly dressing service on a national scale is available to herdowners by AI stations. It is their view and I believe it is also the view of the manufacturers that it would not be practicable to operate this scheme and at the same time to supply the dressing direct to such herdowners as would wish to operate it on a "do it yourself basis". The question of my giving assistance or encouragement to the NFA to distribute the dressing does not therefore arise.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the cost of this material is at maximum not more than 2s 2d per beast, yet a full 4s is being charged for dressing by the AI stations? Does the Parliamentary Secretary not agree that this scheme could be carried out on a much more comprehensive basis if the dressing were made available to the farmers so that they could do it themselves at cost price, thereby saving the necessity of a man coming on to the farm to do it for them? This low cost would ensure that the scheme was carried out more effectively. Would the Parliamentary Secretary state if the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries are engaging themselves in a price ring to make sure that farmers pay the full 4s instead of letting the farmers do it themselves at a cost of 2s 2d per beast?
I do not agree that the Department are lending themselves to a price ring in regard to this matter. As I have said, warble fly dressing is available on a national scale at the AI stations. The question of "do it yourself" was discussed by the IAOS and the AI stations and it was agreed it was not practical to do it on this basis. The charge of 4s is very small when one considers the tremendous financial gain to the farming community to have warbles eradicated. We should try to get the co-operation of everybody to achieve this end.
Does the Parliamentary Secretary not agree that this scheme was carried out very successfully on a "do it yourself" basis prior to 1965 and that this could be done again?
The Deputy is well aware that we did not succeed in the total eradication of warbles on the "do it yourself" basis.
That was only because the scheme was withdrawn in 1967.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary care to comment on the fact that the anti-warble fly dressing scheme has been a failure for the past two years because of his Department's failure to continue the scheme and to make it compulsory? The result is that the value of hides has been reduced considerably and this reduction in value has gone right back to the farmer.
I agree it is of tremendous importance to the farming community to have the warble fly eradicated and we should all work to this end. It is very poor consolation to the farming community at this stage to harp back and say that something which was done two years ago was a failure.
There was failure because the Minister's Department failed to continue it to a logical conclusion.
May I ask why was the scheme allowed to lapse?
That seems to be a different question.
It is the whole question.
There is no question on the Order Paper to that effect.
Question No. 14.