Vote No. 40 deals with the salaries and expenses of the office of the Minister for Agriculture and I wish to refer to three practical points which were raised by Senator Malone. The first point was in relation to dipping sheep twice. My information to Senator Malone is that that was so many years past. One dipping was introduced because of efficient single dipping and to facilitate farmers who owned sheep and also to facilitate those who enforced the regulations when a lot of sheep were being dipped. Dipping in general covers sheep scab and fly strike. They have now reverted to the double dipping.
The next point raised by Senator Malone was in relation to warble fly. The Senator said there was no insurance. Insurance is covered and the fee is 3/- for dressing of each animal. The dressing of these animals is much easier now than it would be by injection or anything else. I shall make a controversial statement now and say that years ago a resolution of mine was unanimously adopted by the Seanad in connection with the eradication of warble fly infection. One of the statements I made then was that the warble fly does not mind over whose fence it flies. There is no good in Senator Malone dressing his cattle if others do not do so. The National Farmers Association and farmers generally aggravated me personally when they objected to the scheme as a whole. We had practically a general election fought on this question. The Leader of the Opposition said: "Do not let one of those inspectors or one of those people inside your gate". I do not want to go further into that but I want to emphasise that this House unanimously passed that resolution. I set out in the anteroom samples of cowhide in which there were holes as if a shot had been fired through it, and also scarred tissues.
The dressing of cattle, if it is not compulsory now, is meant to be compulsory to the extent that you cannot sell your animals if they are not guaranteed to be dressed. It affects our exports when the cattle are not guaranteed to be dressed. When you want to sell a beast, you must have a certificate it has been dressed.
The third point raised by Senator Malone was in relation to milk supplies. I cannot comment further on this than to say that with advanced refrigeration, there should be no difficulty in this regard. I have not taken any longer than five minutes, but I consider the points raised by Senator Malone practical points. After the two days we had to spend here listening to the lengthy harangues of others, I thought they were practical enough and I wished to refer to them on this Schedule.