Ms Paula Barry Walsh:

I will respond but I may amalgamate some of the questions. I may also refer some to my colleagues. The first question was on the outlook and the growth of trade in the next while. The Department works with Bord Bia, which is involved in assessing the trade and the forecast for the trade for 2019. It is considered that a strong trade will emerge in 2019 for live exports. There may be growth both in the calf element and we would hope also in the other weanlings and store animals.

To give members an idea of what happened last year, the principal markets for Irish calves were Spain, which took approximately 71,000, the Netherlands, which took 48,000, Belgium, which took 14,000, and France, which took 9,000. As members said, getting animals across to these countries is a critical issue.

The Department actively supports the live trade. It works with the exporters and it will support the exporters in their endeavours to manage the access to Europe in respect of getting the calves out.

One of the questions related to details of lairage capacity as well as ferry capacity to France? I will ask my colleague, Mr. Rob Doyle, to respond.