Thank you, temporary Deputy Presiding Officer, and I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement today. It’s appropriate, I’m sure, that she should set out before the summer some of the steps that Government will take in order to deal with these exotic animal diseases. They’re called ‘exotic’, but they’re not as exotic now, given the impacts of climate change. We’ve already seen a number of examples of bluetongue in Wales, and some of the other diseases as well, which are either imported or spread by midges.

So, further to that statement, can the Minister tell me what consideration has been given to a vaccination campaign to deal with bluetongue specifically, because climate change seems to be driving this disease far closer to us here in Wales during the summer months? I understand that there is a very effective vaccine available, and, as was stated, that the farmers’ unions have been considering disseminating information about this vaccination, but do we need to go a step further and encourage more vaccination by farmers? Has the Government actually modelled the cost of vaccination against the cost of an outbreak of this disease in Wales—against the impact on the industry as a result of falling prices because of such a disease, because that’s what tends to happen when a disease outbreak takes place?

A second question arising as a result of the statement is one on the ability and capacity of the veterinary system to deal with this. The Minister mentioned in her statement the Animal and Plant Health Agency. Of course, since the cuts to laboratories in that agency, stopgap measures have been put in place –that’s how I would describe them—with some private companies and veterinary practices trying to fill in the gaps, with the British Veterinary Association warning that we may miss some warnings as a result of losing these laboratories. So, what discussions has the Cabinet Secretary had with the veterinary profession on ensuring that there is sufficient notification and plenty of testing facilities for bluetongue and the other diseases mentioned in the statement?

The final point arising as a result of that, of course, is: what discussions is the Cabinet Secretary now having with the wider profession on the fact that around half of the vets that we rely on in the UK were trained in the European Union—in other places in the European Union? I will mention this here, and you’d expect me to mention this, that we don’t have a veterinary school in Wales. There were exciting proposals by Aberystwyth University to try and fill some of that gap immediately, if not the whole gamut, but as we await support to achieve that dream we are reliant on vets who have been trained in other European nations and who make a very valuable contribution to us here in Wales. You, Cabinet Secretary, attended the British Veterinary Association dinner recently, as did I, and I’m sure that this was raised with them—how important these vets are and how important it is that we, as we have done a number of occasions today, confirm that not only are EU vets welcome here but that we much appreciate the work that they do in keeping our livestock healthy and in helping us to tackle diseases such as these exotic diseases that you mentioned.