Mr. Damian McDonald:

I do not have much to say, other than to pick out two or three key points to emphasise. We have discussed the problems with ash dieback. I know people are comparing the delay in implementing the ash dieback report, and how long it is taking to set up a task force that might work here. They are very different things. Unfortunately, we are trying to clean up a mess after ash dieback. What we are trying to do here is prevent a similar mess with the bark beetle. I understand why some Deputies and Senators might be concerned about calling for an import ban. It is not something the IFA would do lightly because we are a pro-trade association and benefit from trade ourselves. The Chinese market was opened again today for beef and we were glad of that news. However, what other option do we have in a scenario where we do not have confidence in the system that is there to prevent the bark beetle from coming in? What other option is there? I say to the committee and to those who might be a bit nervous about a ban that I can see no reason in the world a task force cannot be set up straight away to get working on this. I cannot understand why this has not been done already.

I would like to make a distinction. I do not think we can depend on what is happening in Scotland and other countries. We must protect our own industry here. We need to make sure we have the correct safeguards in Ireland to prevent the bark beetle from coming into our country. We talk about timeframes. We all know and have seen it all too often that if it comes in, there will be a massive panic. There will be a task force the next morning and a report the following evening and we will all be at it. As the president stated, prevention is far better than cure here. There will be a time where we may have to park commercial interests for a small period of time to think about and protect the long-term interests of our sector.