Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The chairman of Bord Bia is not present, but he does appear before the committee; therefore, Deputies will have an opportunity to ask him whatever questions they want.

Specifically with regard to the delegates present, I asked whether tracing was a reality and whether we could write to the receivers. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív supported this. Should we propose legislation to the Commission to make it easier to trace cattle that have not been paid for and have been moved from one member state to another? Inevitably, the animals will be killed and slaughtered. Assuming the tags have not been changed, a central European registry could make it easier to take a lien on the money provided at the time of slaughter. That is a question I raised at the beginning, but I have not received a reply to it. Is that a naive proposal in the light of the possibility of tags being changed? Are there obstacles to export insurance, particularly for exports between member states?