asked the Minister for Agriculture whether any arrangements have been made to set up a research team to investigate the incidence of white scour in calves, particularly in the major calf-producing areas in the south of Ireland.
57.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - White Scour in Calves.
56.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if any accurate assessment has been made of the calf mortality due to white scour; and how much money is at present being spent on research into this disease by his Department's veterinary research staff.
58.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he considers it advisable to make investigations into the claims now being made by the manufacturers of various drugs which claim to ease white scour; and what protection to farmers could be afforded by an investigation of these claims by the veterinary research staff of his Department.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 56, 57 and 58 together.
My Department is at present arranging to set up working parties representative of the Department, the Veterinary Faculties of the universities and An Foras Taluntais to look into the whole problem and devise the best possible measures of control and treatment.
It has always proved difficult to arrive at a dependable figure for the incidence of calf mortality due to white scour. My Department is at present training professional staff to carry out a regional survey which should provide very useful information as a basis for future policy.
It is not practicable to say how much of the total expenses of the Veterinary Research Laboratory relate to the research into white scour, which has been carried out by the Laboratory for a number of years, but I can say that there will be no shortage of funds for this purpose.
By and large the drugs to which the Deputy refers are produced by reputable firms and have been adequately tested in the countries of origin. Their practical efficacy, of course, depends largely on the circumstances of each particular case. The Animal Remedies Act, 1956, provides protection against spurious claims by manufacturers.