Mr. Gerard Reynolds:

I wanted to come back on the questions raised by Deputy Browne. One query was on the farmers contributing to the compensation packages for the employees. Of course the farmers will be very fair to the employees. They have been long-standing employees on their farms, and almost like family members in some instances. The overriding picture is that the prohibition is being brought in by the Government so the compensation package should be financed by the Government. This should include the payment of appropriate compensation to the employees. It should not have to be taken from the employers' compensation, which will also be calculated in what the Department has said will be a fair and reasonable manner.

On the world demand for fur, I am not too clear if there is an overall drop in the demand for fur but there is a significant drop in supply. The Danish market has ceased with effect from last year. That was a significant contributor to the world supply. From that point of view, this sustains the view that the prices of mink are on the increase, currently and going forward. The independent evidence, which was quoted earlier on, supports this.

With regard to the point made about the ten years, there are two aspects to calculating this part of the compensation. One is to establish a sustainable and realistic average profitability per annum. The Department has suggested that this be done over five years from 2016 to 2020, but that period clearly shows a loss because there was a downturn in the cycle. We suggest ten years which, as Deputy Browne has said, takes into account some good years and some bad years, and gets a reasonable average of what the profitability would be. It must be remembered that the farmers continued to endure the loss-making years in the expectation of getting recoverability of that finance when the profits come in so they could replenish their reserves. This is why we suggest that 2021 onwards should also be taken into account because the market is on the upturn and there will be higher profitability. That calculation is to calculate the average profitability. There is also the multiple figure. When the average profitability on an annual basis is agreed there will be a multiple also. The Department is suggesting five years, but the moment this is five times zero, so it is nothing. We are suggesting a figure of ten, which reflects the most recent compensation scheme in Denmark that takes a ten-year period to review. Again, a multiple period is not an exact science. With any company valuation or disposal there are subjective issues that are part of the negotiation. The farmers are prepared to negotiate, but five times zero is not acceptable.