Mr. Aidan O'Driscoll:

No, I do not. What I said is that we are constantly making improvements in the Department and this is another set of improvements we are making, in terms of the extent of the responsibilities of the new investigation division and the governance structure of that division. These are significant improvements and we want to strengthen our investigative capacity in the Department. If you look at the Minister's statement you will see that he paid specific tribute to the investigations that had been carried out by our staff up to that point. He also said the new investigation division was designed to bring all investigation capability, both internal and external, into one division headed by a senior supervisory veterinary officer supported by a team of investigators, some of whom are core members of the team while others are drawn from areas where their expertise will be beneficial. I have said that we have not been able to fully implement that, though we have implemented the new governance structure around the investigations division and it is a very good governance structure. I have not said at all that the change was not needed - change is always needed and we are constantly changing and improving our systems in the Department and this is one such area. I would very much like to continue that process of change by expanding the skill range within the division and by setting up the arrangement as it was originally envisaged with a core group of staff and staff drawn from other areas of the Department. For the time being, we have not been able to do that but I am all in favour of these changes.