Paul Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the guests and, having heard what they have said, I am sure they all wish they were not here. I have read all of the submissions and listened to what was said. Dan has gone as far as Brussels with this case, and I would go as far as saying that he and his family have been to hell and back. I know they want action and not sympathy, but Dan and his family certainly have my sympathy. I am a farmer and I have yet to meet a farmer who does not take pride in his animal husbandry, stock, farm and lands, so I can only imagine the nightmare Dan and his family have lived through at the worst of times of this matter.

I wish to ask a few brief questions to understand the case. Dan said the feed trials were supervised by Teagasc so some of his cattle were taken to another farm and both sets of animals were both fed the same in laboratory-type conditions. I have read about the very small weight gain and weight loss among the cattle that were kept on his farm and how the cattle performed on another farm. The results of that test are definitive. Where did Teagasc, as a State body, go with its results? If Teagasc supervised everything that happened and documented the results, then to me that is black and white. Where did the results end up? Who buried them?

I am a bit confused about what was said about the contamination of the laboratory samples. When was Dan told that? Was it when the results came back or did someone hold their hand up early and say there had been a cock-up or whatever? I am finding it hard to grasp the scenario.

Finally, the application to the 2012 to 2016 petitions committee fell with the Government. Did Dan come back? Did he apply after 2016 to the 2016 to 2020 petitions committee? If so, what was the outcome?