Mr. Sean Coughlan:

As I mentioned, ours is a not-for-profit organisation. There are no revenue or profit targets, as one would expect in a non-profit organisation. The currency is genetic data and the gain for farmers. Ours is the only show in town, but it is not unusual for countries to have only one national genetic evaluation body; it is normal for that to be the case. The organisation is licensed and audited on an annual basis by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

On the point raised by the Chairman about the testing issue, we will not engage in any genotyping; all of that work will be done by independent labs. The procurement process is ongoing and not yet complete. They are going through the full public procurement process which is completely transparent. The cost of genotyping last year was €30 per sample, but we expect the cost to be less than that this year. The cost is €30 per sample, not per animal. If we end up with a 60% genotyping rate, we will genotype 60% of an animal, which means that the cost would be €18.

Therefore, it will be less than €18 per animal. Last year, on the 2014 scheme, the percentage cost of genotyping was approximately 15% of the payment and it is expected it will be around the same for the 2015 scheme.

A number of queries were raised in regard to why it is 60% genotyping. I will ask my colleague, Dr. Cromie, to cover that issue.