Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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I welcome the representatives of the farming organisations and thank them for their solution-based approach. Obviously this will result in a tightening of credit. The Property Registration Authority was mentioned. What exactly is required by that? Obviously a tightening of credit would protect farmers or marts at the very least. However, it also creates difficulty for farmers. Most people who sell cattle, including me, have obtained short periods of credit. It would be difficult to get rid of credit completely without it inconveniencing people who buy and sell cattle at Sixmilebridge, Ennis, Kilmallock or any of the major marts in the west.

Will export credit insurance apply to any calves or cattle that have been exported outside the Union, including to north Africa? If not I presume there is no obstacle. Obviously export insurance is an obstacle for exports within the Union, but when it is outside I do not imagine it would be an obstacle. There would be a lien over the cattle until they are paid for, but the difficulty would be tracing or finding those cattle. Given the increased level of traceability - obviously all cattle have ear tags, etc. - is there scope for a mechanism within the European Union so that if cattle go from one member state to another one and have not been paid for, it could be registered? At least then when the cattle are finally slaughtered there might be a mechanism of recovering moneys. Is that completely naïve given the possibility of switching tags?