Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. I have a couple of half-statements, half-questions. Then I want to hear from the witnesses. I ran into time difficulties here the last time and I do not want that to happen again. I want clarification on what Dr. Barrett said about the difference between the skin test and the blood test. There is a belief out there about blood tests and people are asking why we do not do more blood tests. There are many reactors going to the factory and coming back as false positives. When they get to the factory, they are not reactors at all. That is very frustrating for farmers. Their opinion is they did it for brucellosis and, while it would be a tough pill to swallow and more labour intensive when the vet is in the yard, why not do blood tests across the board? That is the feeling out there. Will Dr. Barrett comment on that?

Farmers also have an issue with the delay in moving reactors. They are up for this and want it solved. Dr. Barrett is saying it is more bovine to bovine than it is the badger or the deer. Does he have science to back that up? If it is the case, why are we lackadaisical about removing reactors after tests? Should they not be nearly taken out? The vet should nearly have someone in the yard before he leaves, if they are the spreaders. Will Dr. Barrett comment on that? There are also issues with the valuation.

Mr. O'Mahony will not be surprised to hear this. The last day when I brought up vaccination, he was the man who jumped out of the chair and gave the Minister a bit of paper about our exports and how it might affect markets. How do we overcome that? Can we change our focus? If it was half-time at a football match after 70 years of this, we would not go out and do the same thing for the second half because what we have been doing is not working. We have to think outside the box. Can we invest some of the money we are spending in exploring a potential vaccination that would not affect the carcase and meat going forward for export? We have to look at something different.

That is my bit. I want to hear from the witnesses now.