BSE (Hansard, 17 February 1989)

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list those EEC countries in which BSE is a notifiable disease;
(2) what information he has concerning the incidence of BSE in EEC countries;
(3) what information he has concerning the incidence of BSE in the Republic of Ireland.

§ Mr. Donald Thompson
BSE is a notifiable disease in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A single case has recently been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland, where the Minister of Agriculture and Food has announced that the disease will shortly become notifiable. BSE has not yet been reported in any other member state.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action his Department takes to ensure the testing of culled dairy cows for BSE infection.

§ Mr. Donald Thompson
All cattle suspected of having BSE are compulsorily slaughtered and the brains subjected to laboratory examination to confirm whether or not the animals were affected by the disease.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure that beef imports from the Republic of Ireland do not come from BSE infected cattle.

§ Mr. Donald Thompson
Following the recent confirmation of the first case of BSE in the Republic of Ireland, legislation is shortly to be introduced which will require the compulsory slaughter and destruction of all animals affected by the disease. Although there is no evidence of a risk to humans similar measures were introduced in Great Britain last August, purely as a precautionary measure.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what evidence his Department has that the current level of compensation for BSE infected cattle is encouraging owners to submit suspect cattle to slaughter prior to the result of clinical signs of BSE;
(2) if he will introduce a new compensation scheme in respect of BSE based on payments of 100 per cent. of the value of infected animals.

§ Mr. Donald Thompson
I believe that 50 per cent. compensation is reasonable, given that the animals are suffering from a terminal illness but are valued as if free from BSE. There is no evidence to suggest that owners are deliberately evading their legal obligation to notify the Ministry of cattle suspected of having BSE. Indeed, the number of cases being reported suggests a high level of co-operation from farmers in tackling this new disease problem.