: The Minister will
recall that I raised this issue with her on the floor of the
Senedd just last week, so I won't rehearse what I said then, and
I'm grateful to the Minister for the update that's just been
presented today. But there is one element that is often forgotten
in the discussion on avian flu, which is its impact on egg
producers. This sector has already suffered a very difficult
time, with some farmers saying that there is blame on the
supermarkets,
but there is no doubt that the issue of avian flu does affect the
supply of eggs. Therefore, I'd like to ask the Minister what
assessment she has made of the impact of this on the egg sector,
and what steps are being taken to ensure that egg farmers in
Wales won't suffer as a result of these developments. And what
support will be provided if this sector is to be affected? Thank
you.
(Minister for Rural
Affairs, North Wales, and Trefnydd: Thank you. Well,
clearly, our egg producers have been affected; if you think about
free-range for instance, because of the mandatory housing Orders
that we had, obviously, free-range egg production was affected. I
think I probably said to you that this is being dealt with at a
UK level, and, certainly, the UK Government had co-ordinated a
meeting around egg producers. I'm not aware of any specific
support or funding that is available, but, obviously, we need to
keep a very close eye on that, and see what the outcome is for
our egg producers.
