asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will make a statement on the protracted dispute between his Department and a person (details supplied) in County Limerick which has resulted in this person going on hunger strike in Limerick Prison; if he will give details of the alleged discrepancy between the numbers of livestock tested by officials of his Department on this person's farm while he was in Cork prison; the number of livestock for which this person subsequently received returns as having been slaughtered in the liquidation of his herd; and the steps he proposes to take to resolve this grave and serious dispute.
Written Answers. - County Limerick Disease Regulations Dispute.
154.
I should state at the outset that I understand this person is now no longer in prison and that his imprisonment, in fact, related to a picketing offence in breach of a court injunction.
The person concerned was convicted, in October 1983 and February 1984 for repeated refusals to allow his herd to be tested as required by the Department under the disease regulations and, in July 1984 it was considered necessary to urgently depopulate his herd in the interests of disease eradication. The depopulation operation, which had to be carried out by the Department's officers, aided by the Garda, revealed general neglect of the animals concerned and conditions on the farm that constituted a threat to human as well as to animal health. Eighty-nine animals were removed to a meat factory for slaughter and the proceeds were paid into a bank account for the herdowner. It would appear that any discrepancy between the number of animals slaughtered and those paid for may arise from the fact that the factory concerned did not put any value on some of the animals because of their poor condition.