Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I've agreed to give Samuel Kurtz, Sam Rowlands and James Evans a minute each to contribute to this important debate.

Now, the Minister knows, and maybe Members of this Senedd are not too aware, that sheep scab is a highly contagious and insidious disease that impacts on animal welfare and leads to economic losses. As you may or may not know, it is triggered by mites that live on the skin of the sheep, causing lesions, severe itching, loss of wool and, ultimately, a loss in production. A single mite can ultimately lead to an infection that spreads throughout a flock and also to neighbouring flocks. Infected sheep suffer from an intense pruritus that they will attempt to relieve by scratching to the point of ignoring all other activity whilst causing significant self-harm. Failure to properly treat this infection can cause serious economic losses due to rapid loss of body condition, low birth weights, higher lamb mortality from infected ewes and the downgrading or condemnation of carcasses at slaughter. 

The severity of the situation is very clear when considering that, in 2010, a study identified 36 per cent of Welsh sheep farms as having an outbreak in the previous five years. Scab outbreaks were reported on 15.8 per cent of Welsh farms in 2015, and it is estimated that the cost of the disease to the industry in Wales could be in excess of £5 million per annum. So, we need to get a grip on this disease in this country, because if we don't, serious welfare and production implications will persist. Now, ADAS has considered the cost of delayed diagnosis and unsuccessful and inappropriate treatments, and the associated loss in production. The production losses were found to be in the region of £20 per ewe. For a 500-head flock, the costs of a misdiagnosed and poorly treated outbreak were deemed to be in the region of £10,000. The average flock in Wales is 700, which pushes the estimated production loss to around £14,000.

Current treatments for sheep scab infestations rely on either injectable endectocides based upon macrocyclic lactones—MLs—or organophosphate dips. Now, the use of these products to counter a scab infection will lead to lengthy and inconvenient meat withdrawal periods. So, there has to be the ultimate aim here in Wales for this to be eradicated, and this is achievable. Norway, Sweden and the USA have eradicated sheep scab. In fact, previous UK eradication programmes were successful; eradication was achieved here in 1952 and the UK remained free of sheep scab until it was reintroduced from Ireland in 1973. So, I believe, and I'm actually quite confident, that Wales, with the right support from the Welsh Government, can achieve the desired outcome again. In fact, I think this is a rare area of agricultural policy that we may actually agree on, Minister. Indeed, I welcome that Farming Connect have stated the following:

'The best long-term solution to scab treatment is to eradicate the disease from Wales and the rest of Britain. The best chance we have of achieving this is if farmers take a collaborative approach to tackling the disease.'

Now, you will be aware of the report, 'Tackling scab: a farmer-led approach', and the steps farmers in some areas are taking to improve levels of farm biosecurity, such as maintaining fencing and checking for gaps, shared rubbing areas, double fencing where possible, and co-ordinating treatments with neighbouring farmers. However, that project is due to end this year. Similarly, the interim measure of free examination of skin samples from sheep showing suspected clinical signs of scab ended on 31 March 2021. So, we need action now, and you have a key role to play in this, Minister.

In 2019, in January, you committed £5 million of Wales's rural development programme funding for sheep scab eradication. So, I'm not alone in being extremely disappointed that this has still not found its way to the industry. In response to a question asked on the matter at the NFU Cymru conference in November 2020, you actually recognised the importance of the finance being made available to support the industry initiative. Whilst you explained that you had to delay these millions—£5 million—because of COVID-19, I understand that you gave an assurance that the scheme was at the top of your priorities when looking at future budget allocations. However, by 15 March 2021—just two years later—you have toned down your commitment, as you wrote to the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee, and stated,

'It remains our intention to carry the requirement forward for future Wales RDP consideration, but can give no guarantee regarding the possibility of new and specific funding at this stage'.

The industry-led project to help eradicate the disease on farms had previously reached the stage of selecting a good express-of-interest application to take forward. As you have stated yourself, Minister, doing nothing is not an option. So, it is vitally important that the funding is made available and not redirected this time. In fact, I agree with NFU Cymru that the £5 million could be allocated from currently unspent funds from the Welsh Government European Union RDP. So, I do hope to hear a commitment from you today that you will do this. The slower you are, the longer Wales will face the problem identified by the Welsh sheep scab group in 2018—no eradication in part due to a lack of funding, multiple competing strategies, and a lack of co-ordination.

It is time to reprioritise the response to scab so that Wales can achieve the roll-out of the strategy developed by farmers, vets and technical experts, in order to lessen the impact of many of the problems discovered in previous programmes and to enhance high welfare in the sheep industry in Wales. We need to provide significant economic benefits to both individual farms and the industry as a whole. We need to improve knowledge and awareness, reduce the incidence of the disease without any legislative measures, and we need to see the five objectives of the Wales animal health and welfare framework achieved.

Minister, Senedd Members, our farmers across Wales are really suffering at the moment. They feel badly let down about the nitrate vulnerable zones. [Interruption.] It's not a laughing matter. They feel—