William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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We know that if the council finds out something, the first port of call is to tell the Department so that the farmer will get a cut in his single farm payment. Unfortunately, that is the way it works, and then there are tears and the farmer gets on to me as the local public representative. That is the reality of it. That is what frustrates farmers every day. In fairness to them, most farmers in the country are nearly living on their nerves, between Bord Bia and everything else. I spent a whole Sunday washing the whole place down for Bord Bia to make sure it was okay.

I often talk about the case of what happened when I was inspected. I am going to repeat myself again. My dog was standing beside me and the inspector said that he, the dog, was not supposed in the parlour. I replied that she was a she and asked him to tell her. I said that she would not listen to me because she had spent all her life following me around. I am just making a point. That is what happens. To be fair, we have to work together on this. We need to walk forward together. I do not want people living on tenterhooks again. That is all I am saying.

Mr. Callanan know this. I do not have to tell him. What does a farmer dread most? It is the person with the green coat with the harp on it coming in. It puts the farmer's heart in his mouth. The witnesses should hear some of the stories I have heard from farmers whose herds have tested positive for TB. God help them, they are heart-wrenching. My herd will be tested and I could be one of them myself. All I ask is that we have joined-up thinking and that we all collaborate to make this as easy as we can to get the results we all want. Is that fair enough?

I have one more question. How is the effectiveness of the advice on water quality and regulatory compliance given by private advisory services being measured? Does the Department have any plans for improvements?