I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft:
Bovine Diseases (Levies) Regulations, 1985
copies of which were laid in draft before Dáil Éireann on the 13th day of December, 1985.
The proposed regulations are being made under the Bovine Diseases (Levies) Act, 1979, which was introduced to secure a financial contribution from the farming sector towards the cost of the bovine TB and brucellosis eradication programme. The rate in 1979 was £3 per bovine animal slaughtered or exported live and 0.5p per gallon of milk received for processing. In view of the heavy cost of this programme and the burden it imposes on the Exchequer, the Government, in the national plan, fixed the rates of levy at £3.80 a head on cattle and 0.6p a gallon on milk to apply until the end of 1985. The increase in the rates was introduced in association with a series of changes designed to speed up eradication of bovine TB and with the provision of extra funds for that purpose. The funds allocated over three years were as much as £85 million. The levies yield £13.4 million in a full year.
It has now been decided, in the context of the 1986 Estimates, to retain the levies at the current rates. The House will appreciate that in arriving at this decision the Government have had to take account of the overall budget prospects for 1986 and of the fact that there has been a substantial shortfall in revenue in the year just ending. This has been a difficult year and I need hardly remind the House of the range of measures introduced by the Government in recent months to alleviate the position of those farmers who suffered the worst effects of this year's bad weather. But we must now look forward to 1986.
As far as bovine disease, particularly TB, is concerned, there is continuing unease, as evidenced most recently at a session of the Committee on Public Expenditure, at the large amount of resources devoted to disease eradication without any immediate prospect of total success. The Government share this concern and this was reflected, earlier this year, in the adoption of a new and vigorous approach, giving fresh hope that the problem can be substantially overcome in the next few years. The new procedures that have been established introduce a vital element of discipline and continuity and there is widespread support for the approach being adopted. The current testing programme is progressing well and if the momentum can be maintained we can look forward to a significant drop in the disease level over the three year period of the plan.
Since the inception of the disease eradication schemes we have spent some £252 million on the programme. When the expenditure is expressed in current terms, as high as £1 billion, it is understandable that there is disquiet that speedy eradication cannot be achieved or, worse still, that disease may be on the increase despite such an enormous commitment. Let me say, first of all, that contrary to some recent reports bovine TB is not on the increase. What has been happening is that, due to the intensity of the current programme, we are identifying disease that in the past would have gone undetected for longer periods and which would have spread to neighbouring herds by the time it was detected. I am satisfied that we have been able to halt the spread of TB during the current round and I believe that from now on we shall see a reduction in disease prevalence. Taken in that context the current prevalence level of 3.62 per cent or 6,917 herds locked up because of TB is not as distressing or alarming as it might seem at first glance. I am indeed optimistic that, in contrast to the past, we now have a system that allows us to identify the disease quickly and to go about its eradication in a more systematic way. It is significant that the prevalence figure I have quoted, which refers to the situation at the end of November, constitutes for the first time in several months a reduction in the overall disease level.
The expenditure figures should be put in perspective. We could not have developed our exports of cattle, beef, milk and milk products at the level of disease obtaining in the fifties and sixties. Exports of these products are estimated at £1.19 billion in 1985 and amount to £8.8 billion over the last 15 years. This is an essential element that is often lost sight of in the debate about expenditure on TB. That said, the elimination of the final residues of bovine TB is proving to be a slow and difficult task but the measures introduced this year form, I believe, the basis of a successful eradication strategy.
Progress towards the final eradication of brucellosis continues to be satisfactory, with about 500 herds now restricted. I expect this figure to be much smaller by next spring when the current testing programme is completed. I am confident that if we remain vigilant in our approach to this disease, and barring unexpected setbacks, we will reach our eradication goal next year and thus be in a position to consider seriously declaring our national herd OBF — officially brucellosis free.
