Vol. 488 No. 4
82 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the cost of the bovine TB eradication scheme from its introduction to date; the amount paid to private veterinary practitioners; the amount of compensation payments made to herd owners; and the way in which this cost has been met. [6129/98]
The TB and brucellosis schemes are jointly funded by the Exchequer and by statutory disease levies paid by farmers. Expenditure on these schemes to the end of 1997 was £1,068 million.
However, taking into account receipts totalling £330.3 million in respect of diseases levies and EU contributions, the net expenditure by the Exchequer was £737.7 million. It is not possible to compute a figure for TB costs alone.
The amount paid to veterinary practitioners by way of fees, excluding payments made direct by farmers, for the same period was £281.5 million and compensation payments to herd owners was £337.7 million.
83 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of animals removed from herds as TB reactors from the introduction of the TB eradication scheme to date; and the number which tested negative following slaughter. [6130/98]
128 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason the owners of herds from which TB or brucellosis reactors are removed for slaughter are not automatically issued with a post mortem certificate of test results following factory or laboratory analysis of carcase specimens. [6231/98]
129 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the scientific justification there is for Department restriction on herd movement where post mortem tests on an animal removed as a TB reactor proved negative. [6232/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 83, 128 and 129 together.
The number of reactors which have been removed from herds under the bovine TB eradication scheme from 1960 to the end of 1997 is 1,657,353. Statistics for the period prior to 1960 are not available. The visible lesion rate varies from year to year but on average is about 33 per cent.
The tuberculin test is the standard test prescribed in EU legislation for TB and the one accepted by all our trading partners. The fact that visible lesions are not evident in reactor animals on post mortem does not mean that the disease is not present. Instead the presence of visible lesions would indicate that the disease progressed to a slightly more advanced stage. The results of post mortem examinations are forwarded to nominated veterinary practitioners of the herd owners.
