Dr. Frank O'Mara:

Unfortunately, I do not know the answer to it either. I have no knowledge that there are any statistics or a report on that. Anecdotally, I am aware of several cases of botulism. In those cases, it was poultry litter that had been spread. There are one or two cases I happened to be aware of in my locality. I would not draw any conclusions on a national basis. I am not aware of any increase or outbreaks of disease related to the increased quantities of slurry that have to be spread as a result of more cattle being housed on slurry tanks.

A number of years ago we were involved in a European-funded research project on GM potatoes. The field work finished about three or four years ago. The purpose was to analyse the environmental impacts of growing a potato variety that was resistant to blight through genetic modification and compare that with conventional potatoes. There was no issue of stealth. It was probably the best-known trial we had going on at the time. The researchers involved did almost 100 public engagement events on the trial and it was widely reported in the media.

It obviously was licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, because to do any field work with genetically modified organisms we need a licence. It was licensed by the EPA and was very public. It basically showed an enormous reduction in the use of fungicides because of the blight resistance. It might have been an 80% or 90% reduction in the use of fungicides and no impact on the environment in terms of the soil or the invertebrates that would inhabit the soil where the potatoes were grown. Those were the scientific findings. The use or non-use of GM potatoes goes wider than science. As scientists, we provide the information and the facts to come out of that trial. It is for society at large to decide if we should grow such crops. We provide the facts into that debate.

Deputy Cahill asked about our own dairy herds and crossbreeding. Approximately 30% of the cows in our dairy herds would be crossbred. We have a number of herds with no crossbreds, including the well-known next-generation herd which is our flagship herd for where the economic breeding index, EBI, can bring us in the future and what benefits will come from continuing to use the EBI. That is a non-crossbred herd. Our herds in the base station in Moorepark have no crossbreds and a number of our other herds might have up to 50% of crossbreds in them. It is a mixture across our herds.