Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the answer. I have received a lot of the information from the Marine Institute. I agree that the matter is complex. The bottom line is that there was only one positive out of 900 animals tested which was discovered during the first year of testing. One could question how that could happen. It seems to be an aberration rather than the rule. I know that in the case of some of the other bays that were removed from the programme the situation was much more severe.

I welcome the fact that the Minister and the institute are trying to establish a code of practice for the bay. I ask that he applies a little more pressure to ensure that it is established, particularly if there is a chance that the bay could be kept disease free. That is a possibility. If the data collection is continued the bay could be reinstated. I understand that there is not a huge amount of testing being done at present because the bay has been removed from the programme. Perhaps he could urge that Marine Institute continues its testing and monitors whether the bay is disease free. I thank him for his answer again.