Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. O'Flaherty for the presentation. Going back to BVD, it was mentioned that only 50% of PI animals have been disposed of. Should there be some incentive for people to get rid of these animals or is the economic argument sufficient to move them? Are we not compensating them because of current economic circumstances rather than breaking the precedent we had with other animals with a disease that we felt should be taken out of the herd, where we paid farmers for doing so?

If farmers were to be compensated for taking out these animals, how many would be involved and at what cost? It would appear to me numbers would be relatively small, about 0.37%.

It was stated that IBR was an influence on the live trade. Can that be quantified? How does it restrict the live trade? What countries does it restrict us to? What is the economic cost, taking into account that the more markets we have, the more likely it is that the existing markets will give a better price, because there will be more competition? We must avoid a situation where a small number of players control the whole market. I am interested to hear about the economic implications of not dealing with that disease.