§ Mr. A. WILLIAMSasked the Minister of Agriculture whether compensation for slaughter of animals is paid at the full rate in those cases where a farmer is fined for having failed to report an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on his farm promptly?
Mr. GUINNESSUnder Section 20 (7) of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1894, the Minister is empowered, if he thinks fit, to withhold, either wholly or partly, compensation in respect of an animal slaughtered by the Ministry where the owner or person having charge of the animal has, in the judgment of the Minister, been guilty in relation to the animal of an offence against the Act. Unless the circumstances in connection with a case are very exceptional, it is now the Ministry's usual practice to make a deduction from the compensation payable to an owner for each animal in respect of which the owner has been convicted for failing to report disease with all practicable speed. The usual basis of deduction is 10 per cent. of the valuation of the animals in question.