Mr. Cormac Healy:

I cannot comment on the Northern processors other than to say that Northern Ireland had a significant increase in domestic pig output, which was probably prioritised for processing capacity. Last year, there was approximately a 5% increase in processing throughput in the Republic. The situation has been managed as best as possible. There have been times of tightness due to labour issues, including availability. The industry is continuing to work through those issues. There is a constant pipeline, with pigs coming off farms every week, so the industry has to work closely with suppliers. It is doing so. The pig sector has increased in size over the past decade and the industry has constantly invested to ensure it is ahead of that increase.

I am unaware of any veterinary shortages or issues at this point in time.

There is capacity. Short-term changes often pose problems. A processor needs to invest, build up and ensure there is a market outlet. There may have been some element of this over the past 12 months with pigs that used to go to Northern Ireland suddenly being unable to. In an overall sense, though, we processed 5% more pigs last year, which was a considerable achievement, given the tightness in terms of labour.