I move amendment No. 5:
In page 6, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following:
There shall be established a fund to be known as the Disease Eradication Fund. The expenditure of all moneys in the fund shall be as authorised by the trustees of the fund for the purpose of the eradication of bovine tuberculosis and bovine brucellosis and for no other purpose. The trustees of the fund shall be appointed by the Minister on the following basis:
(a) two persons appointed by the Minister one of whom shall be an officer of the Minister;
(b) three persons who shall represent the producers of bovine animals shall be appointed by the Minister on the nomination of such organisations as the Minister considers to be representative of such producers and
(c) one person who shall represent the members of the veterinary profession on the nomination of such organisation as the Minister considers to be representative of such profession.
The purpose of this amendment is to require that all money raised by the levy be paid into a fund to be known as the Disease Eradication Fund which will be administered jointly by the Minister for Agriculture, representatives of the farming organisations and the veterinary profession and would be capable of being used only for the purpose of disease eradication. The Minister has said, in the course of his contribution here today and previously that it is the intention that this money be used only for that purpose. If that is the case it should be seen to be so, and a mechanism such as the payment of the levy into this fund should be instituted so that there will be a statutory guarantee that that money will be used for disease eradication and for no other purpose.
The levy will be an effective means of securing the disease eradication only if it has the support of the farming community and if the disease eradication programme itself has the support of that community. The setting up of this fund into which the levy would be paid would contribute towards getting farmers' support for disease eradication because the farmers, having half of the total number of seats on the board of trustees of the fund, would, through the mechanism of this fund, have a direct say in the disease eradication programme, which they do not have at present. Farmers will accept that they have to pay the levy if it is to be used in a way over which they have some control. Therefore, I ask the Minister to agree that the levy will be paid into such a fund to ensure, first, that it is used for disease eradication, and secondly that farmers have a say in the way in which it is used.