Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

The animal health problems on the farm referred to by Deputy White have been ongoing for several years and relate mainly to ill-thrift and stunted growth of cattle on the farm in addition to reduced milk yield. I thank Deputy White for her tenacious determination to pursue this investigation in recent years on behalf of Mr. Dan Brennan, his family and the wider community of Castlecomer. The farm in question, which I have visited, has been the subject of extensive investigations in recent years. Since late 2006 it has been the subject of further thorough and comprehensive investigations by the Department's centre for veterinary epidemiology and risk Analysis, CVERA, based at University College Dublin. A high degree of inter-agency involvement and co-operation has been a feature of the investigations. The agencies involved have included the EPA, Kilkenny County Council, Teagasc, the HSE — previously, the South Eastern Health Board was involved — and my Department.

In 2004, my Department's veterinary laboratory service arranged for a wide-ranging study to be undertaken into the problems on the farm, following which, a report was produced in June 2006. The report documented the range of the investigations, the methodology involved and the results of different aspects. The farmer involved had certain difficulties with some aspects of the report and, at his request, the report was not published.

As part of the inter-agency investigation, several reports, in addition to my Department's 2006 report, were produced. These included the UCC report of 2006 commissioned by the EPA entitled, An Impact Assessment on Epiphytic Lichens; the Ambient Air Quality Survey report of 5 May 2006; the John J Gardiner report, entitled Condition of Trees on the Farm of December 2005; and the EPA summary report of the work completed by the EPA as part of the multi-agency investigation of animal health in Castlecomer, County Kilkenny of September 2006.

Apart from these reports my Department and others have also been involved in several initiatives on this farm. For example, a herd health programme was developed by the farmer's private veterinary practitioner and supported by my Department, to deal with respiratory disease in calves and mastitis in cows. The Department also funded treatment for mastitis, a vaccination programme, the provision of calf hutches to segregate the calves from each other and feeding trials. Other initiatives included a grassland management plan, monitoring growth of calves at grass and checking sources of water to the farm.

Following finalisation of the Department's veterinary laboratory service report in 2006, the then Minister met a delegation of interests, including the farmer, in July 2006 and confirmed that the authorities were more than willing to pursue the investigation further and to seek to get to the root of the problems on the farm. The Minister also met with the director of the EPA to discuss a report it had produced on the environmental impact of emissions. Arising from this process, in 2006 the then Minister asked the centre for veterinary epidemiology and risk analysis to conduct a further thorough and comprehensive study.

The centre for veterinary epidemiology and risk analysis study is designed to complement the work to date and used some different approaches to investigate the production problems on the farm. The study entails a major sampling and testing programme, including investigation of various metabolic pathways, as well as epidemiological studies. In addition, a comprehensive and detailed soil survey is included in the remit of the study. A draft report arising from this work has now been sent for peer review and when this is completed the report will be finalised and published.

The article in the Kilkenny People refers to a report. However, I am not aware to which document the newspaper refers and I trust the Deputy would agree, therefore, that it is inappropriate for me to comment in detail upon it. I emphasise that my Department and I, along with the other agencies involved, are determined to establish the underlying cause of the problems on this farm. It is inappropriate at this stage to make any further comment on the centre for veterinary epidemiology and risk analysis investigation until the report is finalised and published, which will take place shortly.

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