Mr. Edmond Phelan:

I will start with the calves. If there are going to be queues of a day or two days at Dover, then there is no way that calves can go that way. If there is rough weather during the spring, I would be worried about whether the transport of calves would be allowed to go across the Bay of Biscay. I do not know if that would be possible, and it is something which will have to be watched. It is vital, however, that the calves get out of the country, because there will be a knock-on effect on the beef industry if too many of them stay here.

Moving on to sheep, in one sense this situation might actually help sheep farmers in the short term, because up to 450,000 to 500,000 lambs from Northern Ireland and the UK come into Ireland and are slaughtered here every year. That puts pressure on the price that Irish farmers get. Much of the lamb produced in the UK goes to France now. There may be positive aspects in that area, therefore. The major areas for us, however, are beef and dairy, and they are going to take a hit. Looking at the overall tariffs being discussed, the estimate for the food industry is €1.35 billion or something in that ballpark. That is more than the total amount that comes into the country in respect of the single farm payment, so that puts things into perspective regarding how much farmers will be affected on the ground. We know all these difficulties will end up being passed back to the primary producers. Mr. Punch will now deal with the figures on the more technical side of this situation.