Vol. 509 No. 6
283 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number, if any, of agricultural inspectors who left his Department since 1990 citing reasons of ill health; the number, if any, whose ill health has been diagnosed due to excessive contact with sheep dip; and the measures, if any, his Department takes to minimise or to deal with the effects of this. [21851/99]
Eleven officers who served in technical grades in my Department retired on ill health grounds since 1990. None of these illnesses were connected with the use of sheep dip.
My Department's staff who deal with on-farm inspections would have minimal contact with sheep dip. Nevertheless, my Department's safety statements for staff on our own farms as well as on-farm inspection staff set out risks associated with sheep dips containing organophosphorous pesticides and control measures which should be adopted to minimise the risks.
