asked the Minister for Agriculture if in view of the rapid progress made in the eradication of bovine tuberculosis in North Donegal, he will make arrangements to have the Inishowen Peninsula declared an accredited area.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Bovine T.B.: Inishowen Peninsula as Accredited Area.
26.
For the purposes of the Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Scheme, County Donegal is treated as a unit, and I hope to be able to declare the county an accredited area early next year. I am not in favour of accrediting a small area such as the Inishowen Peninsula, as this would create local difficulties in regard to testing and supervision and would delay the clearance of the county as a whole. In any event, while the scheme has made good progress in Inishowen, there is still a good deal of work to be done before the peninsula could be granted accredited status.
In view of the fact that this area is convenient to an excellent shipping port, in view of the fact that it is a peninsula and easy of supervision and in view of the fact that it could be an example to the rest of the country, would the Minister not reconsider this matter?
In view of the number of other factors to which the Deputy has not referred——
The answer is "no".
The answer is "no". After all, two clear tests are necessary before any area can be declared accredited. In fact, we have not completed one round of testing in the peninsula so that there would be no point in taking the course suggested by the Deputy. While it would be a simple matter to control this area, it still would present some problems and as we are progressing in the county, we cannot be very much ahead of the progress that we hope to make in the country as a whole even if we did select the peninsula. There is always a good reason for everything I do.
Il Duce ha sempre raggione.