Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On when the report will be published and come to the Cabinet, it is being prioritised by the Minister of State and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It will be up to him and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to bring it to the Cabinet, but I expect it will be managed and expedited promptly. I have not seen the report, but I have had numerous engagements with the Minister of State on it.

Regarding the avian influenza, the timelines are eluding me at the moment, for example, of when the suspected case was identified in Monaghan, but it was certainly brought to my attention in the latter part of last week. Testing was carried out and a positive result came back. Immediate steps were taken to put in place protections and precautions around that flock.

It is certainly the case that there is ongoing vigilance across the country because there is real risk with a number of incidents of wild birds identified as being infected. It is also something we have seen in many countries right across Europe now where the same position applies. Vigilance is the order of the day over the next number of weeks along with exceptional precaution and attention to detail at farm level so as to ensure biosecurity measures are in place.