Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for making himself available. It is a very busy day. The committee has had some discussion on the TB eradication scheme. The Minister's opening statement stated there was an increased provision for TB testing this year. However, the detail of the programme suggests that the number of TB tests being undertaken is the same, so there is no additional output being achieved from the additional expenditure. I take it that is because the EU has reduced the level of funding because our eradication programme has not been working in recent years. Will the Minister clarify where he sees this programme going over the next 12 months? The stakeholders forum is in place. Can we get better value for money?