Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Does he recognise that the open market did not take account of the ability of diseases such as this to spread? I did not hear him mention quarantine in his reply, but will he consider the view I have heard expressed by farmers and vets that there is a need for closer attention to be paid to the quarantine issue, particularly for specimens of breeding animals coming into the country, and that this has slipped in the past? Will he agree that part of the problem is that there was not sufficient attention paid to the possibility of the spread of Johne's disease in the past? Have we learnt lessons to ensure that this spread is halted?

Farmers are finding it difficult enough to compete, but if there is some condition which is causing waste, where animals are being fed but there is less production, does the Minister accept that this is adding to the problem? What lessons have been learnt and how do they relate to quarantine?

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