Mr. Francie Gorman:

I cannot speak for the Department of agriculture. We consult with our colleagues in the Ulster Farmers' Union, UFU, on a regular basis. I cannot say whether we have discussed this issue with them but for me, if it comes in, there has got to be a full 32-county approach to this. The bark beetle will not see borders. The one thing we have at the moment is the sea border between the island of Ireland and Great Britain. That is a prevention in itself. That is why it is important that every consignment of timber is checked in a thorough way to make sure that it does not come in. There has got to be greater joined-up thinking between ourselves on this side of the Irish Sea and the authorities in Great Britain as well to try to make sure that it does not come in in the first place.

It is vital that that pest-free area in Scotland is preserved if we are going to get the quality and quantity of timber we need in this country in from Scotland. It has to be a joined-up approach both North and South, and across the water, to prevent this. That is why we believe, and we keep going back to it, in the need for a temporary suspension until we get this review in place. We are not looking for a review that is going to take forever and a day to finish. It has to be done in an efficient and timely fashion.