asked the Minister for Agriculture (a) if he will state the stock of blood sampling kits for use by his Department in the brucellosis eradication scheme at the end of December 1984; and (b) the total purchase, if any, of sampling kits during 1985 and the stock of those kits at the end of December 1985; and the value of these.

The stock of blood sampling kits held by my Department at 31 December 1984 was 235,000. At the corresponding date in 1985, 91,000 kits valued at £733,000 were in stock. No purchases were made in 1985 and the present stock is 36,000 kits.