asked Her Majesty’s Government:

When a decision will be taken on the future of the ongoing investigation into the neuropsychological sequelae of organophosphate poisoning caused by sheep dip, commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2002.

My Lords, officials from my department recently met contractors from University College, London, and the Veterinary Products Committee’s medical and scientific panel to discuss concerns about the scientific viability of the project. We have recently received, on 20 October, the panel’s written appraisal of the contractor’s proposed approach. A decision will be taken once the advice has been considered.

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that reply, but I am sure that he is aware that the hundreds of victims of organophosphate poisoning will be disappointed at the lack of progress.

As I hope the Minister is also aware, successive Ministers in successive Governments have constantly said to these unfortunate people that more research is needed. Can he explain why this has been drawn out for so long? In particular, why have the concerns been raised at this late stage in this important study by UCL? Why were they not raised much earlier? Finally and most importantly, can the Minister really accept that the misery of the many organophosphate victims is less important than the millions that have been made by multinational chemical companies? Which side are the Government on?

My Lords, reading the briefing for this took me back a few years, when I was dealing with this matter and the noble Lord came to see me—as, I suspect, did the next questioner. The delay has been unforgivable.

I shall be happy to see the noble Lord and arrange for him to see officials. I know he came into the department 18 months or two years ago. One of the key issues causing problems with the contractor’s proposed approach to this part of the study has been the inability to put together a control group. I have not seen the advice that came in last Friday; it is being looked at for advice to the Minister, Ben Bradshaw. There has been a complete inability to find a control group of, for example, sheep farmers who have retired away from farming, because farmers tend not to retire in that sense. That has been a central cause of the delay.

Given the chronology of this—the years it has gone on for—it is unforgivable. It is bound to lead to suspicions on the part of those who think that there is a connection between organophosphates and ill health that there is lethargy in the department. The issue must be cracked once and for all, but we need better scientific evidence than we have at present.

My Lords, the Minister was right to assume that I would be the next to ask him a question. Can he explain why MAFF, as it then was, spent four years negotiating with the main contractor? The design was agreed with in-house scientists and independent external reviewers. They have been offered 12 different groups for controls, which have been turned down.

Why, on every occasion that sheep dip research has shown that there are problems with organophosphates and sheep farmers, has the medical and scientific panel criticised the control groups? There was the Institute of Occupational Health in Birmingham, the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh and now this. Is it not time they got it right?

My Lords, I have every sympathy with the noble Countess’s approach. The only good thing that I discovered when I returned to the issue after some years was that the work done in the late 1990s and early 2000s on the containers used for OPs was successful in that you cannot buy them now unless you have a certificate. The containers separate the product from the person. Following their introduction, there has been only one report of an acute adverse reaction in a human to OP sheep dips. To that extent, progress has been made, but it does not help those who believe that they are suffering an illness as a result of OPs.

The situation is complicated further because the alternative to OPs—Cypermethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid—kills fish because sheep shake themselves after being dipped. It has been withdrawn, so, at present, there is no alternative to OPs. However, the matter must be looked at further, and I will be happy to see the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, and the noble Countess, Lady Mar.

My Lords, does the present study take into account the transfer of residues of OP compounds or their metabolites through the food chain to humans and wildlife?

My Lords, I cannot say. The study is not up and running because of the inability to get a control group. I have seen no evidence that there is any risk to the food chain. There is a lot of surveillance of our food, so it would have been picked up.

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Countess, Lady Mar, and my noble friend Lord Tyler on their wonderful efforts on this over a very long time. Is it not the case that the chemical companies, and perhaps Defra itself, are afraid of legal suits in relation to the poisoning that is occurring? For noble Lords who do not know, organophosphorus was used in nerve gas in the First World War. I believe that thousands of upland farmers and shepherds have been affected by depression and physical decline. Will the Minister make a commitment that the report that is commissioned will be published within a finite time so that we all know the results? What research and development have been done on alternatives to OPs and the products to which he has just referred, which seriously injure people’s health on the one hand and destroy the aquatic environment on the other?

My Lords, I said that it is alleged that OPs affect people’s health. However, their use is widespread: I understand that there has recently been concern because they are used as lubricants in the oil used in aircraft engines. There have been allegations that aircraft cabin crews have been affected. I understand that work is happening on that, but it is not part of this exercise. As to the report, the difficulty is getting the work commissioned because I do not think it will be undertaken without an adequate control group. That will be the substance, I think, of the advice given to Defra. I do not know what advice the medical and scientific panel gave.

This has to be followed through. I told my officials this morning and will tell my ministerial colleague that this issue will not go away. On the other hand, we cannot necessarily blame the manufacturers. Their product was looked at and okayed for the market. A lot of controls about who can purchase it, who can use it, how it is used and how it can safely be disposed of were put on it to keep it away from human contact. However, that does not alter the fact that there is a problem. The good thing is that since the containers were changed there has been only one report of an adverse human reaction.

My Lords, can I just declare my—

My Lords, I am sorry, but we are well into the twenty-fourth minute.