Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 2. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:26 pm on 15 January 2019.

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Photo of Paul Davies Paul Davies Conservative 2:26, 15 January 2019

Well, I'm extremely disappointed that the First Minister can't say 'sorry', even though this was an administrative error by your Government. The buck stops with your Government, and it's not difficult to say 'sorry', First Minister, so I would expect you to say 'sorry' on behalf of the Welsh Government. Let's not forget; the farmers whose details that were revealed by the Welsh Government were acting completely within the law here in Wales, in an attempt to protect their livelihoods from the spread of TB.

Now, in the 12 months to September 2018—these are the latest figures—Wales has seen an increase in the number of cattle slaughtered because of suspected TB, with 9,700 cattle lost. This has had a devastating impact on farmers, their livelihoods and the localised economy, and is costing the taxpayer huge amounts of money. You are clearly not doing enough to tackle this problem, given that the number of cattle being slaughtered is increasing. Therefore, under the circumstances, do you accept there is absolutely no prospect of bovine TB being eradicated in Wales by your target date of 2041? Surely we should be tackling this awful disease well before then.