Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As other members have noted, the witnesses' presentation was more questions than answers and it is difficult to question questions. It might be more beneficial if we could questions ICBF and return to the breeders.

For my own clarification, and perhaps playing devil's advocate to an extent, Deputy McConalogue raised something that was not referred to, namely whether the witnesses are here to represent the Irish Charolais Cattle Association or are representing the Purebred Breeders Association. If they are representing the entire breeds that they have mentioned that are not on the board of ICBF, what communication do they have with them and why is there only one breed represented here today? The witnesses have spoken about the star index dropping and about the poor gradings in the factories. I am not defending the scheme, but as designed it is to get the heifer calf at the earliest possible age and get the finished animal to the factory at the earliest possible age. I would respectfully say that neither of those two aims suits the Charolais breed. Is that where this is all coming from?