It is good to be able to speak to the Minister about this issue. It is very concerning that bluetongue has arrived in Ireland. It is causing a huge amount of fear and concern to farmers. It is a good thing we have discovered the disease at this time of year as it provides us with an opportunity to try to get ahead of this issue. As the Minister knows, it is the midges that spread bluetongue and it is also subject to the temperature being higher than 12°C. This cold and wet winter has provided us with an opportunity and I urge the Minister to really get ahead of this issue. He should ensure the testing is happening not just in Wexford but right across Ireland, though particularly in the affected region. As the temperature rises, we should consider additional controls in the area to ensure it does not spread any further. I also ask the Minister to look at the fact bluetongue can be spread via the semen of bulls and there are no additional checks around that. Farmers across Ireland who will be attending marts this week, next week and over the spring will be buying bulls and the Minister’s Department should be seriously looking at this. It should be putting in a scheme or checks for farmers selling bulls, so there would be some assistance to test those bulls. It should step up to the plate in this regard. This issue has also raised another question, which is about hides and the fact the vast majority of Irish hides are exported to China. Some 42,000 tonnes of hides were exported there last year. That represents significant exposure. We are entirely exposed because we are selling all our hides to one market. This issue has presented to the Minister a problem that cannot be ignored. He must seek out other markets for these hides. As the Minister knows, the man who controls the offal and the man who controls the hide controls the kill. We cannot allow our farmers to be so exposed in relation to that. I urge the Minister to use this as an opportunity, along with his Department and officials, to develop further export markets for both hides and offal. I thank the Minister for the recent briefing with his officials and I look forward to working with him on this issue over the weeks and months ahead. The spring is coming and the summer is coming and temperatures will rise. When they do, there will be a significant and greater risk of bluetongue. It is important we do not catastrophise about this issue but this could potentially be the calm before the storm. I want to ensure we protect our farmers, that we have all the checks in place and that we ramp up checks in that region, in Munster and across Ireland as well.

Sentiment score: 0.05