Mary Wallace (Meath, Fianna Fail)

I assure the Deputy that the Department and all the players at the table, including the EPA, Teagasc and the veterinary faculty of UCD, will continue to make an important input into this issue and make every effort to resolve it. I stress, however, that no specific source of the problems on the farm in question has been identified to date, despite the commitment of considerable expert and financial resources by the Department and other agencies.

As regards management changes on the farm, hutches were provided to facilitate segregation of calves and funding was provided for the treatment of mastitis and a vaccination programme. A great deal of work has already been carried out and a new crop of calves is being monitored to assess the impact of segregation.

To clarify the position, while results from the EPA's monitoring of emissions are becoming available, they are still being analysed. The Department hopes more information will be made available at the next meeting on 2 June. Decisions were taken at the previous meeting on 9 February on other matters which could be assessed at that point and further work that could be undertaken on epidemiology, the ecology and the environment. The results of work carried out since that date should be available to the farmer at the 2 June meeting. Although there are difficulties in providing the farmer concerned with the results of tests as they become available, the EPA is still analysing data on emissions.

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