Mr. Des Morrison:

To follow on from that, I am relatively new on the forum but I would have a fair background in TB eradication and I have been farming all my life. I am only in the forum about six months but even in that time, there has been a huge change in personnel. In order to carry out any programme, we need continuity of personnel.

To answer the question that was directly posed as to whether the forum is working, I would have been a bit sceptical in the beginning but I have to acknowledge that I was surprised by the amount of good work and good thought going on in it. Having said all of that, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. The proof going forward will be whether there is going to be a genuine reduction in the number of TB reactors and whether we can hit our goal of having a TB-free country, which would enhance all our exports going forward.

The forum has three strands or three committees which are working relatively well, and the Department is working relatively well with the farming organisations. There is very good engagement, which is a plus. The caveat will remain as previously, namely, there is a 30% shortage of some field staff. How are we going to control the disease if the field officers are not there to do the jobs that the farming organisations need to be done with regard to having a proper control structure in place for wildlife? As I said earlier, just like Covid, we are not going to control any disease unless we can reduce contact, which in effect means reduce the contact of infected wildlife with cattle in the initial stage.

I have to say that the Department and the farming organisations are all well-intentioned and all with the same aim, but we need a more permanent structure, both in terms of staff in the Department and field staff, if at all possible. The farming organisations will be the ones who will be there to answer when the rest are all gone and moved on to different positions. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, but I would have to say it is working relatively well.