§ MR. JAMES O'KELLY (Roscommon, N.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has received a copy of the resolution passed by the Roscommon County Council, showing that foul-brood or bee pest, which has spread rapidly throughout Ireland within the last few years, threatens to destroy one of the most profitable of the minor industries of the country, and that permissive measures tried during several years by the Congested Districts Board for Ireland, and now being tried under the sanction of the Department, of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, are powerless to cope with the disease, and urging the need of legislation to enable county councils to deal compulsorily with the pest; and, if so, what action does he propose to take in the matter.
689 (Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The resolution has been received. The Department's bee-keeping scheme, which has been adopted by seventeen counties in Ireland, affords facilities for the eradication of foul-brood, which, if properly used, will, it is believed, render it unnecessary to have recourse to further legislation. Until this scheme has had a full trial, the question of legislation will not be entertained. The Department have received no authentic information that the disease has spread, as stated.