asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he is aware that parcels of clothing from the part of England affected by foot and mouth disease were delivered in the Turloughmore area of County Galway recently; and what action he proposes to take to prevent the danger of infection from such parcels.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Foot and Mouth Disease.
3.
Investigations by officers of my Department have traced one such parcel delivered on 27th November and arrangements have been made by them to have the contents disinfected. If the Deputy is aware of any other case, I shall be glad if he will give me particulars. The British postal authorities have been asked not to accept parcels containing used clothing addressed to people in this country. If such parcels arrive they will be returned.
4.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries what further steps he proposes to take to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease to this country; and if he is satisfied with the precautions being taken.
Since the Deputy put down this question, the following important measures have been announced:
(1) a prohibition on any person arriving from Britain from entering within 21 days of his arrival, any building or land to which livestock have access. The onus for ensuring compliance with this prohibition rests on the owner of the premises as well as on the traveller from Britain.
(2) Restriction of sailings and flights during the Christmas period.
(3) Disinfection of everyone arriving in this country from Britain.
(4) A ban as from midnight on 13th December of sales of livestock in marts except for immediate slaughter or immediate shipment.
(5) Appeals by me through all available media of communication to Britain asking people not to come to Ireland at this time.
The question of additional measures is under constant review and I shall not hesitate to take necessary steps which seem desirable and practicable.
Could the Minister say whether any steps are being taken to ensure that people do not come in from Northern Ireland through the uncontrolled roads?
There are, as the Deputy is probably aware, facilities in operation at the entry points in the Six Counties which do a screening similar to that which we ourselves were doing in regard to disinfection until we changed over to complete disinfection for all, quite recently. In so far as movement through from there is concerned, again we have been establishing at our approved road frontier posts a number of our people right round the clock, who are aided by the Garda, to ensure that nobody coming in through the Six County ports of entry can proceed through the land frontier into the Twenty-six Counties without being subjected, as regards their baggage, to scrutiny, and everything that is prohibited from being brought into our ports of entry will be prevented from coming in at the land frontier posts.
Is the Minister satisfied this is actually taking place? Last Thursday a man went to a funeral in England, came back by Northern Ireland, and passed through a place called Aughnacloy, and he was not asked by anybody whether he had undergone any disinfection.
Could I have his name?
I am sure I can give the Minister his name.
If he was coming from the other side, he should not have been coming through Aughnacloy, unless he was devising a means of codding the people at the customs post that he had not been anywhere except in the Six Counties.
Is the Minister further aware that since I raised the matter of private buses going up for shopping in the North of Ireland, this is being used now to divert traffic from the private bus owners who have a licence to CIE, and that organisations that heretofore have been employing these buses have now been told they cannot get to the North of Ireland unless they go by CIE bus?
Am I not correct in believing that there is the closest correspondence between the veterinary precautions taken by the Government of Northern Ireland at their ports of entry from Great Britain and the precautions taken by us at our ports of entry? If there is not, may I assume the Taoiseach in his recent excursion to Belfast has taken some steps to ensure that such co-ordination does and will continue to exist until this danger is over?
There is, as the Deputy has said, the closest contact and co-ordination between the measures being taken here and in the Six Counties. However, this is not to say that cases such as complained about by Deputy Clinton may not still arise. I should hope that everybody outside this House as well as within would keep in contact with the Department through my officers, to let them know of cases in which people may try to get in by devious routes and cod us into the belief that they have not been out of the country when in fact they have, and possibly in a danger area.
Is the Minister aware that people who had to go to England for personal reasons and who have returned and reported the fact that they were in England, have been refused permission to resume their employment as farm workers? These people have now no source of income at all. Would the Minister say what the Government can do to see that these people do not die from starvation while waiting for the foot and mouth disease to subside?
If all the regulations that we have made and that we are making are strictly adhered to, a number of people will find themselves suffering certain hardships. As to what can be done, this can only be examined as it comes to light. I am not aware of the specific cases the Deputy has mentioned.
Who will examine them, the Minister for Agriculture or the Minister for Social Welfare?
A suggestion as to who would examine them would probably be taken as an acceptance of liability. Therefore, to say who should examine them with this in view, I do not know.
Therefore, the man and his wife and four children have to wait for the Minister to make up his mind.
Did they have to go to England?
I said at the start that they had.
This the Deputy knows, but I do not.
There is no hope of getting them anything to eat.
5.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries whether he is aware of the growing concern among the farming community about the number of people who are entering this country from foot and mouth disease infected areas in Britain; and whether he is satisfied with the precautions being taken to ensure that such people do not transmit the disease to this country.
Under the existing regulations, persons coming into this country from Britain are prohibited for 21 days after arrival from entering cattle sales, abattoirs, meat and bacon factories, AI centres, creameries, etc. or any land or building on which animals are present or to which they have access for the time being. Every person arriving from Britain is served with a notice of this prohibition and contravention entails heavy penalties. In addition everyone arriving is now disinfected and his baggage carefully examined. Stockowners in the country have a special responsibility in this matter and they should see to it that no visitors from Britain are allowed on their premises. In fact they are committing an offence if they allow this, and so of course are any visitors who go on such premises.
In consideration of the fact that scheduled air services are operating to this country from airports within the affected areas in Great Britain, for example, from Manchester and Birmingham, will the Minister consider the possibility of prohibiting passenger traffic on these routes which would minimise the risk of bringing infection into this country?
The situation in regard to the landing of all aircraft at any of our airports is today and at the moment being finally sorted out, as to the numbers of people who will be allowed to enter through these airports. As to the companies who will carry them, whether they be charter, our own company or different companies, or how they will be restricted in the carrying of passengers, this I cannot say at the moment. However, that there will be an overall restriction is on the cards. It is a general numerical limit that is being put on the ports and the airports.
May I suggest to the Minister from my experience that the attempted mitigation of the problem by the segregation at the ports of those who have not been on infected land and those who have been leaves a very grave lacuna in the precautions, because there are unscrupulous persons who have been on affected land and who, knowing that they will be disinfected strictly if they have been on affected land, will claim they come from urban centres? In the grave circumstances in which we find ourselves, would the Minister not think the House would feel justified in saying that that kind of segregation must cease and that anyone coming here must submit himself to the disinfection procedures applying to a person coming from infected areas?
In fact, this is now the case. There is no segregation any longer.
6.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries whether he will now consider prohibiting the entry to this country of people from the foot and mouth disease infected areas in Britain; whether such a step will be feasible; and, if not, why.
I have already considered this and have come to the conclusion that effective enforcement would not be practicable. Furthermore, I understand that the Six County authorities, for constitutional reasons, could not have a similar prohibition.
Orders recently made by me provide that all persons entering this country from Britain are prohibited from entering, within 21 days of arrival in this country, any cattle sale, abattoir, meat or bacon factory, AI centre, creamery, cold store, flour or grain mill, feeding stuffs premises, or any land or building on which animals are present or to which animals have access. A notice to this effect is served on every person arriving here from Britain. This notice binds not only the visitors but owners of such premises in this country. All persons from Britain are now disinfected and the baggage carefully examined.
7.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will give a progress report on the results of the Government's campaign to persuade Irish people in Britain not to return home for Christmas.
The Government's appeals to persons in Britain not to come here for the present have been given very full publicity through all available media of communication in that country, including press and television. I have also arranged for the distribution of a personal letter carrying this appeal to Irish workers engaged in combating the disease in Britain. Our Ambassador in London has asked the Catholic clergy in Britain to ask their congregations not to travel to Ireland at this time. He has also distributed many thousands of copies of a similar appeal through the various Irish clubs and societies in Britain. As announced at my press conference on 7th December, transport companies are being asked not to provide increased sailings or flights between now and Christmas. Every passenger arriving from Britain will be subject to disinfection and thorough customs examination, and will be prohibited from entering any farm premises, etc., for twenty-one days after arrival.
I understand that these measures have already met with an encouraging response.
Does the Minister consider that the danger is not sufficiently grave at present to warrant a decision to close the ports to passenger traffic for a week before Christmas and a week afterwards?
The reply I gave earlier may have given the impression——
That you could not do it.
——that I could not do it. It is important that the question itself should be read when considering the answer. I was asked if I "will now consider prohibiting the entry to this country of people from the foot and mouth disease infected areas in Britain". As I say, segregation is not practicable.
Has the Minister given any consideration to the possibility of providing some from of assistance for those exiles who have elected to remain in Britain and who, as a result of their patriotic and unselfish decision, will suffer inconvenience and, judging by recent newspaper reports, severe hardship during the Christmas period?
So far as those who have listened to our pleas not to come here are concerned, I hope that, through the kindness of other Irish people living in Britain and through the activities of the various Irish groups and associations over there, all efforts will be made to try to make their stay in Britain during Christmas as pleasurable as possible. I am not in a position to comment on what further could be done. We are conscious of the position and know that a definite effort is being made by all the organised Irish groups in Britain to get entertainments going that normally would not take place at Christmas. In addition, Irish people who have homes in Britain are being encouraged to bring their work-mates home for Christmas. That idea is catching on and we hope that by Christmas it will be more widespread so that the people who refrain from coming here will find, while they may miss coming home, they will not be left out in the cold.