Ms Louise Byrne:

Just to be very clear, going back to Deputy Fitzmaurice, in relation to what was sprayed or not sprayed on crops, we test imports for pesticides and residues of pesticides. We capture that as part of our feed safety control programme. I will turn next to whether work is being done on setting a minimum threshold or requirement for native grain in dairy or beef rations.

As regards industry itself, there are some initiatives with some of the co-ops, and some merchants are producing native grain. There is no specific minimum set down. I think there would be concerns from a legal point of view if one were to basically impose a quantitative restriction on other grains going into feed. That would be a breach of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.