Mr. Eoin Ryan:

We do not have a figure for the total dog population. I referred earlier to the research the Department is funding on animal welfare generally and on dog welfare specifically. As part of that research, a study was published by UCD last year in the Irish Veterinary Journalwhich set out various ways to try to estimate the dog population by looking at things such as the microchip and licensing databases and various different ways. The study was unable to come up with a firm number, but our sense is that there is broad compliance with the microchipping regulations. As regards where we want to go, there was a reference earlier to updating the regulations. They have been out for a few years now and it probably is timely to listen to some of the stakeholder feedback on how we can make them more effective and drive compliance even higher. Our goal is to increase compliance with microchipping further than it already is. Our sense is that there is generally good compliance.