Mr. Eddie Punch:

I agree with the previous comments in regard to the blood test. To return to a previous point, in regard to the deer population, we had discussions a few years ago with Coillte. There is a question mark about Coillte being a good neighbour. It is a profitable organisation. Many deer come through its plantations. It has been utterly unwilling to engage on whether it should fence its own plantations. It has said that farmers are welcome to fence and to keep out the deer but in some cases the deer come from uplands through the Coillte plantation and on to farms. When I was a garsún, there was a television advertisement about the neighbour who does not give a damn and know him for what he is was the phrase. There is a question mark about Coillte and the fencing of deer. There are issues in that it might only move the problem from one place to another but there is also a question about whether it is acceptable that there is an entire semi-State forestry which is not fenced.