asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he is aware that the wash used on cattle last year for the purposes of the Warble Fly Eradication Scheme was not effective; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take this season.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Warble Fly Eradication.
24.
I am not so aware. The expert advice available to me is that in almost all cases where warbles have appeared on cattle which were treated last autumn the warbles are not, in fact, viable. They do not mature and are incapable of emerging from the animal to repeat the life cycle.
If there is not a complete breakdown between the Minister and those who should be communicating with him, surely he is aware that I and numerous other Deputies have complained to the Dublin District Milk Board and to other organisations that cattle have been rejected at all the marts in the midlands, that evidence has been submitted to those organisations that the cattle were dressed and that they were still infested with warble flies. The Minister's officials should be telling him this; otherwise they are not doing their duty. In some cases cattle which were returned were put back into the ring and farmers got £13 less for them.
The reply dealt with the point raised by the Deputy, but for his benefit I will repeat it. It is possible, and commonly occurs, that the larvae do surface and cause lumps on the animal's back but it does not necessarily mean, in fact it is rarely the case, that such larvae are viable nor do they emerge and repeat the life cycle of the warble fly. The effectiveness of the dressing, if properly applied, is between 95 and 100 per cent.
Is the Minister not aware that when the scheme was put into operation a few years ago those complaints were not being made? Surely if the Minister has got the proper information from his officials he would agree the cattle were infested, not that the larvae were there and were not viable. They certainly were viable and the cattle in the midlands were infested after they had been dressed and after people had paid 4s per beast to have them dressed.
It is possible that if the dressing is not properly applied and if the amount is not accurately measured an imperfect kill will be got. It is also a relevant factor that certain larvae in the course of their migrations through the animal's body may, at the time of application of the dressing, be embedded in fat tissue and being there will be immune from the effects of the drug. In that case it is possible for a very small percentage of viable larvae to emerge but, as I have said, the drug is very highly effective if properly used.
The complaint being made by the majority of farmers is that the dressing being used in the last year or so is not satisfactory. There were no complaints in the previous five years by any farmer that I know about any infestation after the cattle were dressed, but there were complaints last year all over the country. The Minister should inquire whether the dressing or the drug being used is, to use his own word, viable. Would the Minister make inquiries, because this is serious for farmers? They do not want the same thing to happen this winter.
I quite agree it is serious.
We do not want to make politics out of it.
I can assure the Deputy it is a very non-political matter. It is a question of the sale of cattle and the elimination, if possible, of the warble fly. I quite agree with Deputy L'Estrange.
I know one farmer who had 32 cattle for sale and had to leave 18 of them at home because they were infested.