THE Irish Veterinary Union has accused the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, of terminating negotiations by his announcement yesterday of a new privatised bovine TB scheme.
The IVU, representing 1,000 private vets, said Mr Yates's decision to proceed with or without IVU approval was a calculated snub to the profession and to a great many individual farmers.
"It is surely inexcusable to make a public announcement that negotiations have terminated while a number of the key organisations are not only still involved in negotiations, but are making progress," said the statement.
The general secretary of the union, Mr Pat Brady, described the announcement as "a kick in the teeth" for the negotiating process and "very bad manners" on the part of the Minister.
The union, he said, would now be making contact with the Department with a view to establishing whether the announcement represents an end to negotiations.
Making the announcement at the a.g.m. of the Irish Farmers Association, Mr Yates said there had been a historic breakthrough in the negotiations for a new TB scheme, and the four farm organisations had agreed to take part in a new TB forum.
Asked if he could implement the new scheme without the cooperation of the IVU, Mr Yates replied that he had no desire to get into confrontation with the organisation.
"They spent the whole of 1995 obstructing a scheme which involved rotation. This scheme does not involve rotation. In good faith we have entered into wide ranging talks with them," he said.
"I made it clear that I would give no group, no farm group, no other group a veto on the operation of this scheme. I would very much regret if we cannot reach agreement with the IVU," he said.
"I am not saying we have reached agreement with them and I am appealing to them for their co operation, but I do not want them to be under any misapprehension that the current talks with them will deflect me from implementing this scheme," he said.
"I believe that the vets will find this new scheme a very different situation to the boycott operated in 1995 because there they refused to do tests on non client herds," he said.
Under the terms of the new scheme which places the onus for testing on the farmer rather than the State vets would have to refuse to test their own clients' herds and they would lose business.
"Already there is an indication that vets have started to confront reality and canvass for business and see the business of expanding their practice, " said the Minister.
"I have always made it clear that I have to reach agreement with the founders of the scheme first. We will continue the talks with the IVU on the two or three outstanding issues in good faith and I hope they can be resolved," he said.
"But I don't want them to be under the impression that if we don't reach agreement I am going to drop the scheme. That would be totally disingenuous and wrong of me to give that impression," he said.
Mr Yates said that while the cost of the scheme would increase this year, there would be long term relief for taxpayers now that the onus for an annual test will be placed on farmers, who would also benefit from a cut in levies from £28 to £10 million.
He added that the announcement was the first step in "dismantling the TB industry" in a transformation of the scheme to a less costly but equally effective disease control scheme.
He admitted that bovine TB could not be eradicated until a proper blood test was developed and this was not too far off.