Mr. Michael Sheahan:

I would not say that we did not learn from 2013. We learned a lot from 2013. I mentioned some of the steps that have been taken since then to try to tighten the system up such as the central database, the extra security features on the passports, and the move towards funding of the e-passport system, the 80% grant that we gave, etc. We have done a lot but, unfortunately, as we now know from the programme, criminals are, once again, a step ahead of us. This latest thing that seems to be possible is, as I mentioned, ordering a specific microchip to match a passport, which is something that we had heard rumours about but we had not actually seen. I am not certain that that is the case, but that seems to be the way the evidence is leading us.

As regards follow-up, this is not only an Irish problem. It is an EU problem. Today's meeting, which was prompted partly by ourselves, with the other member states, and involving Europol, is one step in the process. As I say, when the Dutch contacted us two years ago, they led us to believe that the reason some Irish horses were going to Holland and getting into the food chain illegal was they had failed to get into the food chain here. I suppose that give us some reassurance that our own controls were working but, obviously, it was not as simple as that. Other countries that were on the meeting this morning all relayed similar issues. They are all struggling with trying to come up with ways of having a more foolproof horse identification system.