Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Question 165: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if there are or have been, since 1997, problems with the funding and remuneration of vets who conduct tuberculosis tests; and if there have been refusals by vets to conduct tests. [44593/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Since 1996, it has been the responsibility of herdowners to make the necessary arrangements with their private veterinary practitioners to have the annual TB and Brucellosis herd tests carried out and, in general, unless reactors are disclosed the herdowner pays the testing veterinary practitioner for carrying out these tests. This system has worked well since its inception and I am not aware that veterinary practitioners experience any major difficulty in collecting their fees from herdowners. In any event, any such problems are primarily a private contractual matter between the veterinary practitioner and the herdowner. Where such difficulty results in a refusal by a veterinary practitioner to carry out a test, it open to the DVO to arrange for the test to be carried out by a different practitioner and, where the test is carried out by a veterinary practitioner from the DVO, to charge the herdowner for the cost of the test.

With regard to testing paid for by my Department, there has been no difficulty in securing funding since 1997 for the payment of veterinary practitioners carrying out TB testing and Brucellosis sampling and, as far as I am aware, no veterinary practitioner has refused to carry out testing because of the level of payment available.