The Government's decision to pay for Ireland-bound vehicles to be disinfected in British ports should not be seen as criticism of the British, according to the Minister for the Marine.
An agreement finalised yesterday with British ports means the Government will pay for the installation of automatic sprayers. It is unlikely Irish personnel will be provided to operate the expanded disinfection.
Mr Fahey said the automatic spraying of vehicles bound for Ireland was an extra precaution which "reflects the fact that the island of Ireland will benefit". The ports involved are Heysham, Liverpool, Holyhead, Fishguard, Swansea and Pembroke. The British Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) confirmed last night that it had been advised "at an operational level" of co-operative arrangements between a number of British and Irish ports.
A DETR spokesman told The Irish Times there was "no intergovernmental agreement" on deploying Irish personnel at the ports. However, he said they had no objection if the Irish wanted to pay for spraying arrangements at British ports and this was agreed with the relevant port authorities.
British port-owners continued to operate anti-foot-and-mouth procedures according to the guidelines laid down by the Ministry of Agriculture.
These in turn reflected EU regulations on the use of disinfectant of proven effect, and did not require spraying. "It is a matter for the Irish," said the spokesman, "but there is no intergovernmental agreement."
The EU requires all vehicles leaving the UK to pass over disinfectant mats. However, the EU ruling does not include vehicle-spraying, which is regarded as superior. Most British ports rely on mats rather than the more expensive but more effective spraying. The decision to spray was endorsed by the ministerial task force on foot-and-mouth, chaired by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh. A spraying machine prototype, similar to one operating in Dublin Port, was sent to the UK yesterday so authorities there could decide how it would be used.
Mr Fahey said the consequences for Ireland of infection again crossing the Irish Sea were so great that the highest-quality procedures were needed. "I see this as a proactive approach to assist and complement the stringent precautions already in place and also to support shipping operators," he said.
The Minister stressed the move was not to be taken as a criticism of disinfection procedures in British ports. "We do business with the UK ports every day, and the port authorities on both sides of the Irish Sea have excellent working relations," he said. "We must ensure every possible action to ensure that normal trade and tourism visits can go ahead while at the same time working to keep the virus out. Spraying at UK ports will be a big help in this regard".
Contamination by long-distance vehicles should also be examined by the British government, according to Dr Neil Ferguson of the Imperial College London, a member of its advisory committee on foot-and-mouth. Extra measures including the culling of animals on farms neighbouring those where outbreaks have been confirmed should help control the spread, he said. According to computer projections on disease spread, culling just the animals where infections were confirmed would not have dealt sufficiently with the epidemic.
With the culling of additional animals, the projections indicated that the UK "might have turned the corner". Stressing that people should not relax, Dr Ferguson said optimistic forecasts were that the last outbreaks would be around June or July, although pessimistic forecasts could see the last outbreaks being in the autumn. He warned, however, that if highland sheep became infected, the last outbreaks might be recorded after that.