An Ulster Unionist MLA has called on the Department of Agriculture to give full information to the DARD Committee who are conducting a review into Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB).
The UUP Agriculture Spokesperson Jo-Anne Dobson MLA was speaking after this week’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee meeting at Stormont which received a briefing from DARD officials on bTB.
The Upper Bann MLA said: “During the meeting I asked officials if they could provide the committee with statistical information showing the spread of different strains of TB from farm to farm across Northern Ireland on a historical basis. I had heard from a DARD source and indeed directly from farmers that this information existed within the Department but had not been disclosed to the Committee.
“In response DARD officials confirmed the existence of these maps and statistics within the Department, and yet they or information relating to their content and format have not been provided to this Committee.
“I am extremely concerned that DARD has held important information back from the Committee which shows that they actually have a much greater handle on the issue of bTB than they would like farmers to believe. If this valuable historical information were to be extensively probed it could certainly bring DARD closer to a successful eradication strategy.
“As they say, ‘the devil is in the detail,’ and I believe that the Department of Agriculture have yet to give the Committee a ‘full disclosure’ of all the details they hold on bTB.
“I am calling on DARD to furnish the committee with the full facts on the issue of bTB. Previous Committees saw greater detail then the present committee and we could be forgiven for asking ‘what has DARD got to hide?’
“I am my colleagues on the Agriculture Committee will be scrutinising all the possible measures which could be taken in Northern to reduce herd instances and eradicate bTB once and for all.
It is also of concern to me that were it not for a contact within DARD who made me aware of the existence of additional historical and extremely valuable data, the Department may have tried to keep it away from the eyes of Committee members."