Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone for coming in. Mr. Bourke spoke about keeping control of the deer. I do not know how we will do it for the simple reason that anywhere you sow a bit of new grass, you see them ploughing in from the woods. There are more and more woods everywhere. I just do not know how we will do it. How does Mr. Bourke see us doing that?

Mr. Farrell has helped me with a few different problems and I thank him for that. I would like the others to answer this question. There seems a problem around the country whereby if I went out with, say eight or ten cattle, a valuer would come out and then the Department would say that it did not like the price and would send someone out again. The Department sends someone out again and while that person will not give a straight answer one way or another as to whether he or she agrees with the valuation, he or she will expect to bring your cattle. Not many people like to see their cattle going out of the yard without knowing what they are getting. This seems to be a problem with the Department the whole time. It will not agree with the first price or the second price but they expect a farmer to put his or her cattle on a lorry without having been given a price. I think it is a complete disgrace. The least the Department should do would be to say that it would give one or other price and they could battle it out for the difference.

There was discussion about vaccination and reactors. Will someone educate me on this? My understanding was that when you take these samples that they have to incubate in some way.

I am not a scientist and I do not know anything about it but it has to incubate and that is why it needs a certain number of days. Is that correct or not? Maybe I am reading it wrong. They are vaccinating badgers. We must be careful too what we say because it is about when the badger gets it in one place and he is pegged out of the den and brings it off down the road to give to other cattle. We cannot just say every badger is at fault, in fairness. Sometimes badgers that are in places never get infected and you leave them alone because the last thing you want to do is put them flying around the place. We should put out that message so everyone is not just going out saying every badger in the country is at fault. It is the same for deer. I noticed one thing with the badgers. I understand that even with the vaccinated badgers, 8% to 10% of them are still showing up TB. Why is that?

I have another question for the representatives. If I am a farmer on 30, 40 or 50 acres and am working somewhere and go down with TB I do not get the hardship money because I am working. Where are we at with that? Is there a feeling among the farming organisations - no more than with us many's the time, because I will call it out straight - that Departments will bring them in to have a meeting and this, that and the other and then next week or the following one they will announce something that may not be agreed with the organisations? The Departments then just drive on regardless of who is there. Is that a problem? Is there a problem that they are not listening?