Ms Patricia Reilly:

The advisory council was established by the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, towards the end of last year. It comprises a number of independent experts. It is an ongoing council, which has terms of reference but no specific timeline. That does not mean it is open-ended. The council has had two meetings to date. Its focus at this point is on the broad area of responsible pet ownership. One of the topics that has come up for discussion under responsible pet ownership is a communications campaign in very general terms about exactly that. Specifically, ear cropping has been discussed because the Minister is particularly interested in responding to this need. The council will not conclude its discussion by a particular date but it will have outputs over the course of the coming year and for as long as it is in place.