HC Deb 14 October 1912 vol 42 cc761-3
14. Mr. WILLIAM O'BRIEN

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether the county councils of England have any power to override his regulations as to the admission of Irish store cattle into England; has any English county council attempted to exercise such a power; and, if so, with what result?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

The county councils of Northumberland and Salop have informed me that they have made regulations excluding Irish store cattle from those counties. With regard to the remaining parts of the question I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave on Thursday last to a similar question addressed to me by the hon. Member for the Wilton Division.

Mr. W. O'BRIEN

I cannot remember the answers given in this House. Will the right hon. Gentleman tell me whether or not English county councils have the right to set at defiance the regulations of the Board of Agriculture with reference to the importation of Irish cattle, and if the English County Councils have that right, have Irish County Councils the same right with reference to English exports to Ireland?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

I cannot say anything about the legal powers of Irish County Councils, but as I informed the hon. Member for the Wilton Division the English County Councils were acting strictly within the powers ganted to them under the Diseases of Animals Act.

Mr. C. BATHURST

Is it not the fact that the English County Councils have complete local self-government in this matter?

48. Mr. C. BATHURST

asked the Prime Minister if he can say when the House will be given an opportunity of discussing the policy of the Board of Agriculture in admitting Irish store cattle into certain British ports prior to the cessation of fresh outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Ireland?

Mr. LLOYD GEORGE

I can only refer the hon. Member to the reply given on Thursday last to the right hon. Gentleman the Member for the Wimbledon Division on this usbject.

15. Mr. T. M. HEALY

asked the President of the Board of Agriculture if he will state the name of the official who reported that infected heads of cattle had reached Liverpool from Waterford, and the nature of his report; when was this report declared false, and what was the name of the official who so reported; and what was the nature of such contradiction?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

The report to which the hon. Member refers was contained in the telegram which I read to the House on the 8th July last. It was sent by Mr. A. H. Berry, one of the Board's veterinary inspectors. The matter was subsequently investigated by Mr. James Wood, of the firm of Moorhead and Wood, solicitors, Belfast, and Mr. B. M. Greenwood, of the Treasury Solicitor's Department, who found that the diseased head was not one of the ten shipped from Waterford, to which reference was made in the telegram. Further inquiries have been made as to the origin of the head in which the lesions of foot-and-mouth disease were present, but without result.

16. Mr. T. M. HEALY

asked if the right hon. Gentleman will state the date of the Order excluding Irish cattle from Great Britain, the date when foot-and-mouth disease at Swords was first reported to the English Department, the nature and author of such report; is any Minute made of those in council with him when the Order was drawn up excluding Irish cattle; what were the names of his advisers; and was any legal advice obtained?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

The Order to which the hon. Member refers was issued on the 28th June last immediately on its having been ascertained that animals affected with foot-and-mouth disease had been brought to Liverpool from Ireland. Information as to the discovery of the disease at Swords was received by the Board from the Irish Department on the 1st July. As I myself am responsible for the issue of the Order, it is unnecessary for me to reply to the other inquiries contained in the question.

Mr. T. M. HEALY

Do I understand the right hon. Gentleman to say that he made his Order before the date at which the Irish Department had been communicated with?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

Yes, I made the Order immediately the information came to me.

Mr. T. M. HEALY

As the information did not come from the Irish Department from whom did the information come?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

The information came from one of the inspectors of the British Board of Agriculture.

Mr. T. M. HEALY

Was he in Ireland?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

No, Sir, he was in England when the Irish animals arrived. It was on the information that came to us from that source that we acted.