Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. There is no doubt that, on the face of it, it is very attractive. I know one person who would be delighted with it and that is my brother. He is albino and it breaks my heart as he cannot read because of his poor sight. He would be very happy with it.

The first thing that we will hear about is the overall cost and how it will affect the producer. Mr. Spellman mentioned that between €7 million and €8 million would be saved by this method. Could he elaborate on how that can be saved? I think €1 per tag was mentioned in the presentation. Is that the cost to the farmer himself?

How does a tag work? Is it an insert inside the skin or is it a tag in the ear? The reason I ask that is that it was mentioned that it would help to prevent cattle rustling and stealing. If it is only on the ear, it is only a matter of clipping it off and moving away with the cattle to wherever they want to take it. Has there been any discussion with Michelle O'Neill and her department about introducing tagging on an all-island basis? That would be helpful.

I thank the witnesses for their presentation. It seems like a no-brainer, as Deputy Ó Cuív has said. Anything that would make things easier in terms of health and safety and efficiency is to be welcomed.