Vol. 395 No. 3
97 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the source of the funding of the recent trip by ERAD personnel to New Zealand, Australia and North America; the cost involved; the findings from this trip; and their significance in the Irish context.
I understand from the Director of ERAD that the study tour referred to was funded jointly by the FBD Trust and my Department. The total cost to my Department was approximately £5,000. The study tour allowed the Irish experts to view at first hand the progress in disease eradication achieved in these countries and it served to indicate ways in which ERAD's own programme might be improved. It resulted in a number of joint research projects being set up between Irish researchers and their foreign counterparts. These include epidemiological research, the development of alternative laboratory based tests for TB, wildlife vector control and other subjects.
The study tour report will shortly be considered by the board of ERAD.
