asked the Minister for Agriculture when County Sligo will be in the position that all cattle from the county will be eligible to be shipped to England as being fully attested.

So far as the incidence of bovine tuberculosis is concerned, the position in County Sligo is very near that required for accreditation. Neighbouring counties, however, have not as yet quite reached the same standard and, because of the problem of effective movement control, I have come to the conclusion, after very careful consideration, that it would be better to accredit a large area in the West, including County Sligo, later this year, than to accredit County Sligo alone in the very near future.

Are we to take it from the Minister's reply, which of course must be related to his statement this morning, that he anticipates that the area to which he refers will reach accreditation status before the end of this year?

I have taken the risk of committing myself to that statement in my reply.