John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What I cannot understand is, if it was so important and crucial that those pigs be slaughtered, why the Department waited three months? If it was the case that the immediacy of this issue deserved quick action, I do not understand why the Department would let those pigs remain on that farm for three months. Ultimately, it seems it was quite a haphazard approach by the Department when it came to, as Mr. O'Driscoll talked about earlier, threat and the absolute need to act to deal with matters, even back in 2002 when the late Mr. Joe Walsh was the Minister. We know what the late Mr. Walsh dealt with in his Ministry. The Department left these pigs on a farm for three months, barely monitoring it in some cases, took medicines away from him and allowed disease to spread.