Professor Alan Renwick:

That is the €20,000 question. Clearly there is the possibility of tipping points. There are high fixed costs associated with processing and all the way through the chain. Factories must maintain a throughput. Over-capacity is problematic. As I said, one cannot have a situation in which the veterinary surgeons and the hauliers cannot make money. I do not know the answer. We have not looked at a figure at which the cost of production per unit becomes so high it becomes invalid.

There was some concern that we were reaching that point in the sheep sector. There were prior discussions on the situation, in which they were not able to get the throughput to meet the markets. One could suggest that one was getting near the tipping point. I regret that I do not have a figure.