Ms Niamh Muldoon:

As set out in the report, the legal advice from Mr. JP McDowell of McDowell Purcell solicitors and Mr. Tom Hogan, barrister-at-law, stated: "There is no prohibition on an unregistered sole trader or a partnership comprising of one or more unregistered persons or a corporate body, with one or more shareholders being unregistered persons, employing a registered person to apply for and, granted, hold a certificate of suitability in respect of a veterinary premises." That is the nature of the advices received in December 2014.