Dr. Upton was in possession and she has three minutes left. Deputy Joe Higgins will be called next in accordance with the sequence of speakers agreed earlier today.
Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 31: Foot and Mouth Disease (Resumed).
Dr. Upton
I emphasise again the need for the Minister to spell out the details of the plan he has developed to deal with the current crisis. I have listed some of the questions I would like addressed. A key question is how the movement of animals and people is to be controlled in the event of an outbreak. What additional role does the Minister see for the media in the event of an outbreak?
Consumer information needs to be increased. The safety of the food supply is not an issue and this message needs to be reinforced. It is also important, however, to address the possibility of a shortage of animal foods should an outbreak occur.
If animals must be destroyed are the conditions and the location of the destruction programme defined? How will the infected carcases be disposed of? Are there plans in place for reviewing the conditions of pasteurisation of milk? The standard procedure for pasteurisation is not adequate to destroy the virus. It should be emphasised again that the measures introduced to prevent spread of the disease should have no safety implications. Does the Minister consider it necessary to review the pasteurisation conditions? Has the food processing industry been up-dated in relation to the need for processing of vulnerable foods? Higher temperatures than are currently used may be required to treat some products.
What programme will be implemented to ensure that the farm on which the infected animals were found is adequately disinfected? It is important that people are informed of the reasons for the need to slaughter animals. Questions have been asked about the merits of vaccination, for example. Does the Minister consider that such a course of action should be considered? If not, the reasons should be provided.
A number of questions have been raised about the need to slaughter animals. On one hand it has been emphasised that the animals do not necessarily die from the disease, that the disease is debilitating but not life threatening for the majority of animals. Why are they being slaughtered when they pose no health threat and could recover? Addressing questions such as these would give the consumer a perspective on the implications of the disease for the economy.
Of the concerns I have raised today, the immediate concern relates to the sheep that may have been infected which were found in an abattoir in Roscommon and which may have come from a farm in Northern Ireland. Was the abattoir to which the animals were delivered licensed? If so, what are the conditions of the licence and were there breaches of those conditions? Who authorised the slaughter of the animals?
I seek information again on the regulation of the meat industry. Recent events in relation to specified risk material, SRM, in abattoirs gave serious cause for concern. As part of the review arising from present events, perhaps the Minister will address the overall regulation of the meat industry again.
The Minister must now put together a comprehensive package of measures to restore confidence in our ability to contain the disease and that message should be marketed in a much more pro-active way.
(Dublin West): I wish to share time with Deputy McCormack.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
(Dublin West): The severe consequences that would follow for farming communities, rural communities and tens of thousands of workers who must not be forgotten in this equation require an immediate preventative and remedial response in the event that there may be an unfortunate outbreak in the State. A much more far-reaching response is needed in the form of an analysis of agricultural practices in modern times and the manner of the trade in animals and food.
Everyone hopes there will not be an outbreak here but the Government's response in the first week has been lacking, amounting even to complacency. The policy has been one of hope rather than immediately swinging into action to put in place the measures to ensure that animals here did not become infected. Much anecdotal evidence has been given.
The Minister said today that he put a temporary ban on the imports of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and deer on 21 February. It was not, however, until 26 February that horses were banned from coming into the country, as the Minister told me yesterday in a reply to a parliamentary question, a full five days after the ban on cattle and sheep. Horses were coming here, probably from all over England, to stud farms and there should be an explanation as to why that was allowed. It was a risk that should not have been taken.
Serious questions will arise for meat processors as a result of this. One case has been accidentally highlighted. Sections of this industry have created substantial problems for the country and its taxpayers in the past, and the spotlight must be turned on their practices. I am astounded that the Government and the main spokesperson for Fine Gael did not mention the wider question that should arise in this debate, practices and procedures in present-day agriculture.
Farming has become extremely intensive, largescale and globalised. In Britain ten years ago there were 233,000 farms. In the short space of ten years that number has decreased by 25%, to 168,000. Some 750,000,000 broiler chickens are reared and killed each year in Britain – I could not get similar figures for Ireland – 98% of them in the intensive factory farms. In the last week of it's life, each bird spends its time on a space the size of an A4 sheet of paper.
Sows and pigs are reared in excruciatingly confined conditions, for example, with endless rows of sows chained side by side. Apart from the cruelty issue, this is a recipe for disaster as these are precisely the conditions in which disease can spread like wildfire. Veterinary officers in Britain have spoken about the cramped conditions and appalling hygiene in Northumberland where this infection came to public attention. Today the problem is foot and mouth disease, but in the past few years it was BSE which was the result of feeding meat to vegetarian creatures, an inversion of natural processes. E-coli, salmonella and perhaps diseases unknown here can also result down the line.
Global capitalism treats animals as an inanimate commodity, as if they were trading in iron and steel, which they are not. Animals are sentient beings which, like human beings, have evolved over millions of years. They developed in specific eco-systems which determined their characteristics, diet, etc., and developed resistance to diseases and organisms which were dangerous to them. However, because of intense capitalistic methods of production their environment has been radically changed over a few decades. Their diet and conditions have been changed and it is clear that in these new conditions disease can spread radically and much more rapidly than in more natural conditions. This point must be taken on board.
During the past 20 years the distances animals and food travel have increased enormously. The live trade has been intensively increased with animals exported throughout the world. Deputy Dukes and the Government spokesperson will perhaps snort in derision at these points, but it would be absolutely insane not to consider them in the future development of agriculture. I am not saying we should go back to feudal localism, which is not possible. However, we can put in place a system which is much more localised in terms of where animals go, how food is processed and where food is marketed.
Collective farming.
The Minister has called for calm and a lack of hysteria in regard to this matter but a case of foot and mouth disease has been confirmed two miles from the Border. However, this is not the most significant aspect of this problem. Rather it is that this farm was used as a base for the importation of lambs from Britain via Northern Ireland. These lambs were killed in factories here and the meat was exported as Irish lamb. This has serious consequences.
The consignment in question consisted of 291 lambs which were shipped from Carlisle to Northern Ireland. However, only 271 were accredited as arriving in Northern Ireland, while 248 were killed in Athleague. We are told that two lambs died during transportation. The 22 lambs which remained on the farm in Northern Ireland were subsequently destroyed. What happened to the other 22 lambs? This has not been explained by anyone.
It is now established that the 248 lambs killed in the Kepak factory in Athleague were booked in under a fictitious name. If the practice of importing lambs from England to Northern Ireland and transporting them to factories in the South was legal, why was it necessary to book them in under a false name? More importantly, why was this tolerated by the factory staff when everybody knew that the lambs had come from Northern Ireland and had been sourced in England? As Irish sheep are not tagged and British sheep are tagged, why was it not noticed that the tags were removed?
This is not an isolated case. The transportation of sheep from Britain to Ireland via Northern Ireland has been widespread for at least two years. When prices got depressed in Britain because of BSE it became profitable to engage in this practice. The people who engage in this practice, with the co-operation of factory-owners – there are more factories involved than the one in Athleague – and the obvious blind eye the Department has turned to this problem has struck a serious blow to food exports. These people should have the most severe penalties possible imposed on them.
Even if foot and mouth disease never became a problem in the South, the exposure of this sham whereby Irish factories kill British sheep and export the meat as Irish lamb will do untold damage to our export market and good name. Factories have used this system to depress the price here. They tell farmers they have too much lamb and cannot take their animals. Farmers then try to get rid of their stock and the price falls.
Will the Minister explain how this practice was allowed to continue even though Department officials were made aware of it more than one year ago? I worked in the livestock mart industry for 23 years and know a good deal about what goes on in marts. One year ago a midlands mart supplied information and evidence to the Garda and Department officials. Over a long period a large number of cheques presented for the purchase of livestock at the mart were drawn on the Athleague factory and other factories. This case involves the use of eight fictitious names up to 100 times over a certain period. The directors of the mart supplied the information to the Garda and Department officials.
The Deputy's time is concluded.
The Department officials reported back after a certain period that the names were fictitious but nothing more was done. I will supply the Minister with the name of the mart and the people—
As the time is extremely limited and a number of the Deputy's colleagues are offering it is important that everyone stays within the time allocation.
I will supply the information to the Minister so that he can follow up the matter. The mart is willing to help him in his investigations.
Not since May 1970 when what became known as the arms crisis burst upon us can I recall such a sense of national crisis arising out of one episode as there is today, particularly with the confirmation of a case of foot and mouth disease almost on the Border in County Armagh and at a time when there have been northerly winds for several days.
I am afraid that what we are seeing is the failure of the regulatory authority. We have seen it many times during the past 15 years in the beef trade and we are seeing it again. The job of the Minister and Department is to stop this disease coming into the country; it is not, as they give the impression, to control it when it is here. If there is one single confirmed case of this disease in the Republic the consequences will be absolutely enormous not only for agriculture, farmers or those involved in agri-business but for the entire community and economy.
At a time when we are faced with this awful prospect it is extraordinary that we have apparently no laboratory to test these animals or any part of their carcass. All the samples have to go to a laboratory in Purbright in Surrey, and apparently it takes four days to get a result. This is not good enough. Agriculture and, in particular, the rearing of animals is about ten times more important to our economy than it is to the British economy. I cannot understand why we do not have facilities to test for this disease. This does not apply only to this disease. I recall some years ago when there was an investigation into a fraud in export refunds, which is pretty well endemic in the beef industry, and it was necessary to try to distinguish whether intervention beef was heifer or steer beef. We were told by the Minister that the test could not be done here and would have to be done abroad. It did not seem to be a particularly difficult test.The other day I happened to read the Comptroller and Auditor General's report for last year on the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, in a different context but I could not help being reminded of it this morning. It lists a whole range of failures in the regulatory system going back to 1983 where the Department still had not coped with or recovered moneys due to it as a result of fraud in export refunds. That is 18 years ago. The laid back, lackadaisical approach to so much of what happens in the agriculture sphere, particularly in the sphere relating to animals, is amazing and apparently it has been acceptable here for a very long time. I tried to call a halt to it with rather limited success. The time has come, even if it is too late to prevent this disaster, to call a halt to it.
What is striking in this debate is the apparent uncertainty about what happened, or might have happened, in Athleague, County Roscommon, last week. Why is there any uncertainty as to what happened in Athleague last week with these imported sheep or lambs? There was a departmental vet there and he inspected them before they were slaughtered. The place is coming down with officials of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, agricultural officers and agricultural inspectors. Why cannot they relay to the Minister and he to this House and to the public exactly what happened? If these were British sheep, as appears to have been the case, they either had tags on them or their ears would show the result of the tags having been removed from the ears. To say there is uncertainty about it is not good enough. It reminds me of what happened in Rathkeale in 1990 and 1991 where vets and officials of the Department were aware of what was going on but did nothing to stop it. When will people learn? We have only to look at the damage that has been done to this country by a lack of enforcement of the law and of the regulations. There was a willingness to turn a blind eye so often, for which the entire economy and all our people will pay a very high price.
The Minister gave a list of things that have happened over the last week or so. I have to confess it does not make impressive reading. It was written in an almost apologetic tone as if the Minister and the Department were apologising for taking certain steps and assuring people that only the minimum would be done. The consequences of this are so serious that the Minister and the Department need not apologise for anything they do to prevent this scourge entering the country. Given that the marts have been closed, or all but a few who apparently have continued to trade notwithstanding the Minister's decision, there would be a certain logic in closing meat factories except for the purposes of destruction. I understand that is under consideration. I would like to hear from the Minister or Minister of State whether it will be done. To have allowed horses to come into this country in the past week, with the apparent permission of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, was entirely wrong. For the most part those animals came from Britain which already had foot and mouth disease. The Tánaiste described this today as a potential catastrophe for this country. She is correct in that. It is hard to exaggerate what the consequences will be if a case is confirmed in this jurisdiction.
I urge the Minister to lose his inhibitions now in terms of putting in controls and enforcing those controls. Even if those controls cause great inconvenience to many people, and many who have nothing to do with farming or the agricultural industry, they should be brought in and enforced if they would help to prevent this catastrophe coming upon us. It is hard to say it has not come upon us when there is a confirmed case on land within a mile or so of our own Border.
I would like to be confident that everything that could have been done was done. I have a shed full of cattle, the same of most other farmer Members. As this week passed my confidence began to ebb particularly when the Minister, Deputy Walsh, told the House there was an exclusion order on the Border and that he was not aware, although he had been briefed, what public road went through it. I lost all confidence in him on that occasion. How is it that he did not know what highway was running through an exclusion area at the Border? That is the first thing he would have to be told. Many eyebrows were raised both in the House and outside on hearing that statement.
I recall saying in the House on Wednesday or Thursday last that the Government was acting on hope more than anything else. Seven days had passed before there was a concerted effort. Given all the stories I have heard from my constituents on the phone today I do not see that there is any concerted effort or co-ordination.
Last Thursday the Department grounded the agricultural officers and everybody agreed with that. They are the people who run the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and are the front line troops. Several of them had not been given any responsibility until today. What did most of them do for the week? They are the people who know how to do things. It is not that they did not want to do it, but there was nobody to tell them. That is the first battalion. I had a 'phone call today from a school principal not 100 miles away from one of the areas concerned. He said there were 600 or 700 students in the school and they would like to do something. A number of schools are anxious to know what they should do but there is nobody to tell them. Given that school principals are in charge of a huge mobile group in a rural area who return to farms, even if only out of civic spirit the disinfection pads could be put in immediately. Is that not what should be done by every rural school? In that way he would not have to wait seven or eight days for this to happen. How is it that someone in the Department did not say this should have been done a week ago?
The Garda and the Army are patrolling the Border which is the front line defence. Has any instruction issued to the Garda inland, the superintendents, the chief superintendents, inspectors and sergeants? What is their role in this excluding the Border area since it is all over the place? One does not have to go far from where I live in Mountbellew to get to Kepak Athleague which is only down the road. What has the Garda been asked to do and what level of co-ordination is involved? My understanding is that they received no instructions whatsoever. Some members are involved along the Border but there is no co-ordination internally.
There should be an immediate television advertisement showing what foot and mouth disease entails. The lotto numbers are shown on television several times a week so there is no reason for not having an advertisement on foot and mouth disease. As Deputy O'Malley pointed out, this is the biggest crisis we have faced for a long time and it should be treated as such.
The question of how the sheep came into the country does not apply to just a factory in Athleague but to the whole of Ireland. Everyone in this House knows that we have a common market policy with Northern Ireland, therefore there is no need for certification. However, this is not the case in relation to sheep coming from Scotland, England, Wales or any other European country. I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development on 2 February 2000 following a huge furore over sheep imports. Lorries with unidentified sheep were coming in during the dead of night and no one knew where they came from, where they were going or who was profiting from it. Part of the reply from the Minister, Deputy Walsh, reads as follows:
However, under EU legislation sheep coming from other member states must be accompanied by EU veterinary certification and be assigned to a particular holding/ slaughterhouse. A separate certificate applies to each of three categories, i.e., sheep for breeding, sheep for fattening and sheep for slaughter. Details of each consignment of animals imported are required to be sent in advance to the local Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development office in the county of destination through the EU Animal Notification System.
The first question is did this notification come through in the last two years? Did it come through in this case? Is there certification to prove the sheep came here? If the sheep did not have ear tags, where did they go? This is happening all over the country. Someone has done a huge disservice to the people of Ireland if this type of thing is happening, which I believe is the case. There must be answers to these questions which I presume we will receive tomorrow.
Just before last Christmas, every householder in the country received candles through the post from the millennium committee, which was a nice idea. Given the great cloud which is now hanging over us, surely in this day and age it should be possible to write to everyone in the country on this matter. There is no point talking about this next week. Why did this not happen last week? I certainly did not get a letter today and I might not get it until next week or the week after. Given modern technology, there is no reason this cannot be done now.
There are approximately 140,000 to 150,000 herd owners in the country. What is the Department doing to ensure there are disinfectant pads outside every farm gate, or does the Minister want farmers to provide this themselves? Many farmers are asking should they provide this. Is the Minister of State giving an instruction today that this should be done? That would be a huge job by any standards. The farming organisations, gardaí, agricultural officers, members of the Civil Defence and so on should be involved in trying to deal with this issue. There must be a pad outside every farmer's gate. There is no point talking about this if it will take six months. I do not know what type of fabric should be used or if the disinfectant will be available. I am asking the Minister of State will there be some form of mobilisation to carry out this requirement in the next day or two?
I have many things to say and a very short time to say them. Given that the farming community is now almost closed down because people cannot sell any produce and that there will be no inspections for REPS and so on, will the Minister of State give an undertaking that advance payments will be made to these farmers and that they will not receive letters stating they cannot be paid because they were not down for inspection? Can I take it that the advance payment mechanism will deal with any problems with auditors and so on? That was the case previously and it should be the case again.
I am receiving calls from around the country about TB and brucellosis testing. What is the official Department policy in this regard? Will these tests go ahead next week as planned or will they be stopped?
If this crisis continues for a couple of weeks – I hope it will blow over but it does not look good this evening – will the Minister for State ensure that banks, building societies and so on will deal leniently with farmers who have no assets at this stage?
This is the most important debate to take place in this House since I became a Member. There is no doubt the country is currently on the brink of a catastrophe. The actions taken over the coming hours and days will be absolutely crucial for the agricultural community, for workers in the food industry and for every citizen of the State.
The spectre of foot and mouth disease taking hold in the country fills me with fear and apprehension. The impact on agriculture, rural life and the food industry will be devastating. Every action the State will take in the coming days will be important. No matter how small or isolated a single measure may seem, it may well prove crucial in attempting to stop the spread of this vile and virulent disease among livestock. The coming days are vital. We will get just one chance to keep the foot and mouth disease out of Ireland. Although there are very worrying signals, there is no foot and mouth disease in the State at present. We must do everything in our power to ensure we keep this disease out. Contributors to the debate made intelligent and sensible suggestions. I hope the Government will take them on board without delay.
I am particularly concerned about the current situation in relation to the Cheltenham race meeting. I am a great lover of sport and deeply regret calling for the cancellation of any sporting event. However, the situation in both Britain and Ireland is now so serious that this major event cannot be held. I urge the Government and the Irish equine industry to send this message loud and clear to the British authorities. As a TD from Kildare, I am very aware of the great dangers involved in the movement of horses and horse personnel to and from Britain. The Curragh is the centre of the Irish equine industry and is also involved in intensive sheep production. People travelling with horses to Cheltenham and returning to the Curragh will pose a huge risk to the region. This cannot be contemplated. I know the Irish racing fraternity has no intention of visiting such a risk on the area and is prepared to cancel their involvement given the potential consequences. The British authorities must be convinced to cancel the event until the current crisis has passed.
I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate sporting organisations throughout the country who have acted very responsibly in cancelling sporting events. I am aware of the inconvenience this will create in sporting calendars. However, this is in the halfpenny place compared to the crisis with which we are currently faced.
Many speakers rightly highlighted the major gaps in information provided by the Government. If the Taoiseach had taken on board the call made last Tuesday by my colleague, Deputy Penrose, to establish a Cabinet co-ordinating group, these deficiencies would have been overcome. For instance, a lack of information on the Department's website has been criticised. Many farm families who do not have access to the web access the data information through RTE's Aertel service. However, there is very little in the Department's pages on Aertel relating to the foot and mouth disease. This must be rectified immediately.
Meat industry workers have suffered severe financial losses due to lay-offs caused by the BSE crisis. Will the Minister move to ensure a planning task force, comprising representatives of the trade unions, employers and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, is immediately convened to draw up a contingency plan to deal with the possible employment cuts that may fall on the sector? The group formed to address the recent BSE related lay-offs should be expanded and given greater prominence to deal with what may occur in coming weeks and months.
We are facing one of the gravest crises in the history of the State. No stone must be left unturned in coming days and weeks to prevent the spread of the disease, now worryingly confirmed in south County Armagh. Whatever the cost of this operation, it would be minuscule compared with the massive economic and social damage caused in the event of an outbreak here.
My party has approached this debate in a constructive fashion. We have been critical of the Government's ad hoc response in certain areas, but this is not the time to seek political advantage. We have not sought to do so. Everyone must turn their energies and skills to the task confronting us. It is not an exaggeration to say that we are facing a national crisis.
We will have only one chance to deal with this important matter. There will be a disaster if we fail. It is, therefore, vital that everybody knows what to do. In many cases this means maintaining a physical presence of gardaí and Defence Forces members at airports and ports. It is important to ensure every person entering the country passes through a disinfecting unit. All cars entering our ports must be similarly treated. Many company personnel have their own air transport and it is vital the Department ensures all private air strips are included in the central net.
Television and local and national radio stations and the print media must be used, on an hourly basis if necessary, to ensure everybody remains focused. Nobody can or should be allowed to move without being aware of the dangers. We cannot afford to have one outbreak of the disease.
Deputy Connaughton referred to schools. We must ensure each child knows what is involved. Nobody creates conversation in households as much as children. If they are aware of the dangers and the problems everyone in the household will be so aware. Every citizen of whatever age must be involved, and must want to be involved, in ensuring the disease does not get here. Ensuring success will mean that the Celtic tiger, which has benefited many, will continue to work towards improvement in employment etc. If we lose out on this one chance, the economic gains achieved will be lost forever in the ensuing economic disaster.
We cannot allow a situation to emerge where the farming community will be forgotten. As a rural Deputy, I cannot over-stress the need for those living in cities and towns to realise this. They must not do anything in coming days and weeks to endanger rural and farming communities. Those who own holiday homes and take hill walks etc., must realise that they will be unable to engage in such activities in coming weeks. They must also realise that they must protect the right of rural communities to exist. A possible tragedy must be avoided.
I make an impassioned plea for the Government, Opposition and the media to work together to ensure we achieve success. If we fail, the result will be the greatest disaster to befall us in the history of the State.
I wish to share my time with Deputy Sheehan.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
We are faced with what is an appalling vista, a term used by a British judge in a different connection, but one that adequately describes what will face us if a case of foot and mouth disease is confirmed. The disease is endemic in Great Britain, with 33 cases confirmed. Sadly, a case has been confirmed in south County Armagh, near the Border. A confirmation of a foot and mouth disease outbreak here would lead to an immediate ban on exports and jeopardise the livelihoods of 120,000 full and part-time farmers and 200,000 workers in the food and agri-business sectors. It would also create severe difficulties for the wider population and economy.
The closure of meat factories is under consider ation. The issue of compensation for those workers and small farmers who would be affected needs to be considered. The industry is worth approximately £6 billion in terms of exports.
A national effort across the political spectrum and the community is being made to try to ensure the disease does not take hold. We need to highlight for the public the dangers of the disease and the dire consequences if it takes hold. In debates in the Chamber this week a number of Deputies said that disinfection is largely cosmetic. While that may be technically correct, it is vitally important because it represents the public face of the reaction by the Government and the authorities to handling the threat posed by the disease. It is vitally important that the precautions taken are widely publicised and highly visible to ensure the dangers and the consequences of the disease are brought to the attention not only of rural, but urban dwellers. Local radio and newspapers must be used to help with this.
I understand many of the disinfectant mats are approximately 2.5 feet in width while the normal circumference of car wheels is approximately four feet. How effective can these mats be in such circumstances? Like many others, I am dissatisfied with the security measures being taken at the Border. Will the Minister confirm that approximately 600 personnel are manning 299 Border crossings? If that is correct, it is unacceptable. The Minister should call on additional Army personnel, including the military reserve, the FCA and voluntary organisations such as the Civil Defence, all of whom would be only too willing to play their part in what may become a serious national crisis. That should be done immediately. We, as politicians, should lead by example. I hope the Minister will confirm that travel by politicians, Ministers and Ministers of State over the St. Patrick's Day weekend will be cancelled. It is vitally important that we lead by example to ensure this devastating disease is not contracted in the country.
I thank Deputy Healy for sharing his time with me in this very important debate. What code of instructions, if any, have been circulated to Garda stations throughout the country? It is most important that members of the Garda Síochána throughout the country are circulated immediately with a code of instructions by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development to combat this dreaded disease. Sensational headlines like those in a national newspaper this morning stating, "It's Here" do not help the situation. Everyone concerned should act responsibly. Co-operation is the name of the game and if we do not get that from the press and everybody concerned, it will have a detrimental effect on a very important industry to this country's economy.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development seems to be satisfied with a happy-go-lucky procedure operated by certain farmers and dealers. All sheep in Great Britain are tagged but, apparently, when these British sheep arrive here, their tags are removed immediately. This is scandalous and it should have been corrected by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and the Ministers concerned long before now. Wholesale trade seems to be allowed by the Minister and the Department, which apparently turned a blind eye to the operations carried out by illegal operators. It is shocking that a lorry load of sheep bought in Carlisle in England arrived in south Armagh and that some of those sheep have arrived in the Republic. This is not acceptable as far as the Department is concerned.
Is the Minister satisfied that he has the backing and full co-operation of all the farmers and farming bodies, which is necessary? It is in the interests of farmers, as well as in the interests of the public and the country, that they co-operate.
Foxes, badgers, rodents etc. are carriers of the disease. What steps are being taken to curb the intrusion of rodents and foxes from south Armagh into Monaghan? Rodents and foxes travel far by night and they could be carriers of the disease.
Deputy O'Malley was highly critical of the huge list of irregularities that have occurred in the meat and livestock trade over the years. He rightly highlighted in no uncertain terms that this illegal business has been going on long before now and that it should have been stamped out long ago.
The Department and the Minister should be satisfied that they have taken all steps possible to curb the entry of the disease into this country. It was 4 p.m. this evening before a mat containing disinfectant was placed outside the main entrance to Dáil Éireann.
At 4.45 p.m. the motion, "That the Dáil do now adjourn", is either lapsed or withdrawn to allow Adjournment debates under Standing Order 21 to proceed. Will the Deputy move that motion?
I move the adjournment of the debate.
Sorry, it is usually withdrawn. This is a debate under Standing Order 31, so it is usual to withdraw the Standing Order, if that is agreed by the House.
I moved the adjournment until tomorrow morning.
It will be a different system of debate tomorrow morning. The House will sit tomorrow from 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. to discuss the same issue but it will be under a different format – this is a debate under Standing Order 31. We have two choices at this stage, the motion is either withdrawn or I have to put the question, "That the House do now adjourn."
It is withdrawn.
We had reached agreement that this debate would continue tomorrow.
Sorry, Deputy Deenihan, I explained that there will be a debate on the same issue tomorrow from 10.30 p.m. to 1.30 p.m. but it cannot be under Standing Order 31. It is a different mechanism. Is that agreed? Agreed.