Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Section 9(b) states, "disease is present there". If we say "disease has to be present", the Minister has to find an instance of the disease in the area. If he or she knows it is likely to have spread into the area, he or she will want to close it down. That is the flexibility a Minister should want. If, for example, there is an outbreak of disease in west Cork and I know it is likely to spread into County Kerry, I will want to close off an area along the county border to prevent the disease from spreading. However, while I cannot prove the disease has broken out in the area, it makes sense to close it off to prevent the disease from spreading to contiguous herds and so on. I suspect we are looking for that flexibility, but I accept the speaking note does not state this.