Mr. Seán Coughlan:

The shareholding is held by a number of parties. Some 18% of the shares are owned by the artificial insemination companies, 18% are owned by the milk recording organisations and 18% are owned by the beef and dairy breeding associations. That gives a total of 54%. The other 46% of the shares are owned by farmers directly. These shares are held in trust by the IFA and the ICMSA. There is no State involvement in the ownership of the ICBF. It is a non-profit, fully private entity. One official from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine sits on the board. This is because we are licensed by the Department.

We receive funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to carry out roles, and, under EU law, it is obliged to provide such funding. We undertake those roles under licence from the Department and in that context the Department plays a role on the board of the ICBF. I clarify that we are not a State owned company; the State does not own any part of the ICBF. It is a private non-profit entity.