Mr. Michael Sheahan:

I am in the Department quite a while and I became involved in our brucellosis eradication programme in 1999. At that stage, brucellosis was at an all-time high and we got the same thing about people having heard it all before. We launched a programme that year to eradicate brucellosis and there was a lot of scepticism at the time that it could not or would not be done. We heard it was all a racket, a vets' gravy train and all that sort of nonsense. However, a key point was, to be fair, that it was a concerted effort and it had the support of stakeholders. All the farm bodies were fully on board, as were ICOS and the meat industry. Everyone accepted it was the right thing to do and everyone worked together. To everyone's surprise, we eradicated brucellosis within seven years. Our last case of brucellosis was in 2006. It is a prime example of what can be done when everyone pulls together. While I am sure people have said previously that it would be great to eradicate TB, this is the first time we are making an attempt to do that.

This is the first occasion on which we have a plan and Cabinet backing. The Department accepts that it will not eradicate TB on its own. We simply cannot do so. We need the support of stakeholders. A number of difficult decisions will have to be made if we are to achieve eradication by 2030. Everyone here is confident it can be done with the support of stakeholders.

A number of people asked how widely the gamma interferon blood test is being used. We are now using the gamma interferon blood test in all bad breakdowns, that is, all breakdowns involving five or more reactors. It is standard practice. We have learned much over the years about how best to use the gamma interferon test. We are now using it in respect of all breakdowns. Deputy Penrose also inquired as to how many false positives there are with the blood test. Approximately 3% give rise to false positives. The test's level of sensitivity is 97% so there will be three false positives for every 100 animals tested. That is why-----