There have been 32 cases of BSE in Ireland since January 1989, and I assume the Deputy is referring to the animals in the herds which have been voluntarily depopulated for trading reasons even though they were not infected with BSE. All the evidence available indicates that there is no indigenous source of BSE in Ireland.
BSE is a relatively new disease of individual animals and there is no evidence of animal to animal transmission. I have put in place a very comprehensive series of control measures including the banning of the importation of bovine animals and of meat and bonemeal from the UK and the prohibition of the feeding of even domestically produced meat and bonemeal to ruminants.
Research is continuing particularly in the UK as to its possible origin. To date the accepted theory is that the inclusion of meat and bonemeal in ruminant rations has been a factor and for that reason I banned the feeding of ruminant material to ruminant animals.
The theory advanced by a source in the UK that the substitution of animal protein for grass in feed has increased the vulnerability of bovines to diseases of the brain such as BSE has not gained general acceptability in scientific circles.
While I do not intend to initiate any specific investigation into feeding practices here, I can assure the House that the outcome of the general on-going research into BSE will be considered in my Department's continuous evaluations of our protection measures. I should also point out that even prior to the ban on the feeding of animal proteins to ruminants, their use here for that purpose was minimal. Natural grazing and silage has constituted 97 per cent of the traditional diet of the native herd.
