Jim O'Keeffe
Question:163 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the steps being taken to resolve the dispute with vets over Bovine TB testing; and when normal testing, which has been in abeyance for two years, will recommence.
Written Answers. - Bovine TB Testing Dispute.
Discussions are ongoing with the Irish Veterinary Union in regard to the EC Commission's requirement for a changed method of allocation of testing to veterinary surgeons. Meeting this requirement would enable drawdown of EC funding amounting to at least £30 million over a 3 year period.
Under the current arrangements a herdowner can obtain a herd test on request. Almost one third of the country's 172,000 herds had a test in 1992 which is a higher than normal rate of progress for an annual round. A comprehensive testing programme amounting to 8 million animal tests which focused on restricted and contiguous herds was carried out in 1991.