Mr. Richard O'Connor:

No, there is no ban there for the moment, but it will come. It is likely that the UK will go in the same direction. To make two other brief points, the Health and Safety Executive, which is the competent authority in the UK, equivalent in this regard to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine here, has issued a statement for Northern Ireland. It is slightly different from what is happening here. It is the same date, 30 April, but where a product exists in a sales or retail unit on that date in Northern Ireland, there will still be the opportunity to sell that product to end users after 30 April. This is a different position to that adopted here.

I did not respond earlier regarding the question of labour and the implications in this regard for businesses. I will quickly say that in our business we are following the protocols we have agreed with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in respect of getting to the end point in respect of treatment. We are following these protocols, doing it properly and communicating this. I have flagged to our local team that we will not be treating fencing once we get beyond 30 April, a date which is coming in the next couple of weeks. We are doing the same as many other players in the market will be. From fencing contractors to people working in the retailing of creosoted stakes, such as farm relief services, Glanbia and others, these organisations will be looking at their staff profile with respect to engaging with those people involved in this area to explore the possibility of finding alternative work for them. In my case, I do not have an opportunity to find alternative work for several of the employees working at our facility. On Monday of last week, we began the consultation process to flag to those individuals that their services will not be required after the derogation. There are, therefore, direct implications for employment starting immediately from 1 May 2023 and this will impact across the sector to varying degrees until we find a proper alternative to replace this product. This is also the reality.