(Limerick West) asked the Minister for Agriculture if his attention has been drawn to the report in a recent media article (details supplied) that since 1984 there has been a change in the statistical method by which his Department measures progress in bovine TB eradication; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Bovine TB Eradication.
51.
In 1984, in response to criticism from a number of quarters that herd incidence figures did not give a complete picture of the bovine TB disease situation at any given point in time, my Department, accepting the validity of the criticism, changed to publication of herd prevalence statistics on the basis that they are a closer approximation to the true disease position because they take into account movements out of as well as into the restricted herd category.
Herd incidence figures are also readily available from the monthly statistics provided by my Department. Apart from the fact that they do not take into account herds going clear during the round, their use in the article referred to is misleading in that figures for November 1983 are being compared with those of February 1986, a stage in the round when a considerably greater volume of testing had been carried out and in consequence a greater amount of disease identified and appropriate action taken.