§ Mr. JOYCEasked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) if the port of Limerick is open for the shipment of store cattle under the usual restrictions applying under the present conditions; is he aware that no case of foot-and-mouth disease has been found in Limerick or the surrounding counties for the past thirty years; and can he say whether the embargo will be taken off altogether in the near future?
§ Mr. T. W. RUSSELLThe answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. Limerick and the surrounding counties have been free from foot-and-mouth disease for many years past. The only British port to which cattle are shipped from Limerick is Glasgow, and the Department understand that the whole of the available accommodation at the landing places at Glasgow is at present required for the animals exported from Ireland for slaughter. If the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, as soon as accommodation at Glasgow is available, decided to add Limerick to the ports in Ireland from which cattle for store purposes can be sent, the Department will make the necessary arrangements for inspection, etc., at Limerick.
§ Mr. VINCENT KENNEDYasked when the restrictions under the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Orders will be removed in county Cavan; is Ballyconnell still within the restricted area; and will he say how far Ballyconnell is from the nearest case of disease affecting this district, giving the date of the last outbreak?
§ Mr. RUSSELLBy an Order of the Department which came into operation on the 7th instant, the scheduled district in counties Fermanagh, Cavan, and Leitrim was reduced to an area having a radius of seven or eight miles from the infected places. Ballyconnell is still within the scheduled district. It is about seven miles from an infected place. The last outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the scheduled district occurred on the 5th October. If no further cases occur it will be practicable before long to contract further the area of the district; but at present a definite date cannot be specified for the coming into operation of an Order for the purpose.