Mr. Denis Duggan:

In an ideal world, it is absolutely unsatisfactory. We recognise that. For applications coming in this year in particular, the transition from microsatellite testing to single nucleotide polymorphism, SNP, testing, is causing further delays. If everything works properly in the system, and by that I mean the breeder having completed all the paperwork that needs to be completed, having the veterinary marking chart and cover certificates from the stallion owner, and all of that paperwork is correct, it takes about four to six weeks, as Dr. Egan outlined, even today. That also depends on having both the sire and the dam SNP tested on the new platform. If that is not done, that will add at least an additional 20 days to the testing process because either the sire or the dam will need to be tested on the SNP platform. What we have found this year in particular with that transition is that a lot of the hair samples that have been returned have not been of good enough quality to test. That has caused significant delays, which we have worked through with our DNA lab partner to reduce the timescale involved. We found earlier in the summer that on average, around 30% of hair samples received failed the initial DNA testing. That has been reduced to about 5% at the moment, which is more in line with the annual norm. About 4% or 5% would fail even in the old system. All of those things have compounded delays. If for example we have a passport application but neither the sire nor the dam has been SNP tested, that will add almost a month, at least, to the delay if we do not get a sample. With stallion owners in particular we have had delays in receiving hair samples from some stallion owners and that can delay the issuance of the passport to the breeder.