I thank Paul Davies for his series of questions. Just picking up on your first point regarding the TB eradication programme, I have committed to bringing forward a statement in the autumn on the way forward. We will continue to have a science-led approach and, over the summer, there is a significant amount of work going on in relation to our programme.

I used the example of bluetongue to illustrate that we do have very robust plans in place for dealing with these diseases. You mentioned the increase in the number of cases in France, and that’s why we are monitoring it very carefully. The chief veterinary officer is in constant touch with the other veterinary officers in the UK; she receives a monthly report in respect of these diseases. Obviously, if there is an incursion from infected midges from France, those farms at highest risk are likely to be along the south coast and the south-east of England at the beginning of an outbreak, but our message is that farmers in other parts of the country shouldn’t be complacent, they should remain vigilant for signs of disease, and carefully consider the risk of sourcing animals from outside the UK.

You asked about cost analysis, as did Simon Thomas, sorry, and I didn’t answer that. What I did mention was that vaccination really should be done at the beginning of the year before the weather gets very warm, and I’m not aware if that cost analysis was done at the beginning of the year, but I will certainly write to both Members to clarify those points.

In relation to contingency plans, it’s really important that we do have those robust plans in place, and I’ve had a contingency walkthrough, if you like, of what would happen if we had an outbreak with the chief veterinary officer and her advisers. It is really important that we do include stakeholders such as local authorities and police, et cetera, and, you know, maybe Public Health Wales, for instance, depending on what sorts of outbreak there are as we go through, because they can obviously provide assistance to us.

I’ve been very reassured that all the fora are in place—the resilience, the civil contingency plans are there, in place, should we have such an outbreak. I was very reassured when I looked at the list of notifiable diseases when I came into post that it’s many years since we’ve had some of the specific diseases in Wales. By the increased help with biosecurity with our farmers, we certainly hope to keep that the case.