Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 16 September 2016
1556. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will supply farmers with the exact results of gamma blood tests on cattle rather than just a positive or negative result. [25474/16]
View answerThe interpretation of the readings of the interferon gamma assay test requires specific operational protocols of the laboratory in which the assay is carried out, clear advanced research based knowledge and practical expertise of cell-mediated immunology of bovine tuberculosis, specific strategic understanding of the deployment and utility of the assay within the TB eradication programme and under Irish conditions. This expertise is currently only available at the laboratory in UCD where the assay is carried out and therefore there is no purpose to be served in supplying the requested information to persons who do not have that expertise or knowledge.
