Mr. Finbarr Murphy:

I have no idea where the 50% figure is coming from. There is no reason veterinary fees would have gone up by 50%. We did try to get CSO date on whether veterinary fees and costs have increased but there is no available data from the CSO.

On the possibility of entering into rate agreements with rescue centres, as Mr. Cashman has alluded to, we can have no role in the setting of fees. We would need to get the view of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on anything to do with having set rates for rescue centres. As it stands, I do not believe it would be happy with it.