§ 57. Mr. P. MEEHANasked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) if the Royal Irish Constabulary have up to the present carried out the supervision of sheep-dipping in Ireland satisfactorily; and whether there has been any outbreak of disease in Ireland to warrant the creation of a new body of officials in this period of retrenchment and economy, such as is involved by the Sheep-dipping (Appointment of Inspectors) Order, 1915?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Royal Irish Constabulary have not at any time been required to carry out the supervision of sheep-dipping in Ireland, although when on patrol duty they endeavour to find out cases of failure to comply with the provisions of the Sheep-dipping Order. They have never been required as part of their duty to superintend the actual process. During recent years a considerable number of cases of scab amongst Irish sheep have been discovered both at the Irish ports of embarkation and at the British landing-places. In these instances the animals had come from flocks in connection with which no reports of the existence of the disease had been made to the authorities. It has therefore become necessary, in the interests of the important sheep export trade, to take further measures to prevent the spread of the disease. Many of the local authorities in Ireland have already appointed inspectors for the purpose, and it is not considered that the proper carrying out of the Order need cause any considerable expense to the local authorities concerned.