Well, it's impossible to overemphasise the importance of the farming industry to rural Wales. Farming businesses in Wales are the backbone of the rural economy, the axis that rural communities turn around. The core products produced here are central to the food and drink industry in Wales, which is worth millions of pounds and employs over 239,000 people here. But bovine TB continues to cast a dark shadow across the industry in Wales, and it's one of the main threats to the delivery of our vision of an agricultural industry that is profitable, productive and innovative. The anger and frustration in the industry regarding the failure of consecutive Governments time and time again to introduce a comprehensive strategy to eradicate TB in Wales is at its highest ever.

I want to echo the views of the farming unions on their opposition to a tabular valuation system as a means of providing compensation for TB. Such a proposal contains significant deficiencies. Because of a shortage of time, I want to focus on one weakness, namely that such a system isn't fair to farmers or to the Government, because a system based on averages is likely to create as many cases of overvaluation as undervaluation, and we can't accept tabular valuation without an assurance that farmers are to receive a fair compensation.

The veterinary sector is facing significant challenges at the moment as a result of Brexit, as many vets leave this country and go back to the countries of their birth. This in turn causes problems in terms of TB testing and the committee heard concerns that this is having a direct impact on farmers and TB testing. Members of the Farmers Union of Wales have been punished because of a lack of personnel and veterinary support. So, I encourage Government to ensure that additional resources are available before any increased testing requirements are introduced. One possible solution, as we’ve heard, in relation to this is the introduction of lay testers, and I would encourage the Welsh Government to look into this as soon as possible.

The current situation is being further intensified by the Welsh Government’s programme for government for 2021, which states that it would ban the culling of badgers to reduce the spread of  TB in cattle. This is a mistake. There is no vaccination for TB in cattle or wildlife, so the only effective tool we have is culling, and it has to be part of the mix for the benefit of cattle and wildlife. There is evidence to support an effective TB eradication policy over the border in Gloucestershire and Somerset, where we saw a reduction of 66 per cent and 37 per cent in the number of cases in the period of the culls there. No other way has been proposed to tackle TB, and therefore we must use the only tool that we have at the moment, and that is culling.

In reading the committee’s report, it is staggering to understand that there isn’t adequate data on the level of TB in wildlife, either. Such information should be elementary in developing policy to tackle the disease. It’s no surprise that the steps that have been taken to date haven’t succeeded, because it’s only one side of the evidence that’s considered. This problem in terms of data lets our farmers and our wildlife down, and we must improve this data, therefore. This problem must be dealt with. Everyone is agreed that the current situation cannot continue, and the Welsh Government must ensure that farmers are given adequate support to eradicate this appalling disease from cattle and wildlife.