Mr. Peadar Ó Scanaill:

There was lay ownership. The spouse of any married vet owned 50%. In fairness, a retired vet whose son is continuing with the practice may still actually own the premises. We were aware of the existence of many such cases. They were not creating the issue though. What was creating the issue was registered and non-registered people asking us what our view of section 54(2)(c) was, which states a body corporate cannot offer the service. It hinged really on how a corporate body could offer the service. A corporate body is not a person but a vet who carries out the Act. It was quite unclear, and even on the legal side one could ask a range of barristers and solicitors and get a range of answers.