Mr. Thomas Ryan:

I want to clarify something for Deputy Smith. I am looking at the CSO figures from June 216 to June 2018. Total cattle decreased by 0.2%. I will share this with the Deputy at the end of the meeting if it is helpful. There is a narrative, which I understand and which Deputy Smith has articulated several times, that there is a huge glut of extra stock. I am sharing CSO data with the committee here. Since the quotas were lifted, total cattle numbers have decreased by 0.2% from June 2016 to June 2018. The number of dairy cows grew by 3.4%; the number of other cows fell by 3.1% That is what the facts say. I am happy to share that CSO data with the committee.