Mr. Lorcan O'Dochartaigh:

With the export of sheep and pigs to the Continent, in the main cases, the export of pigs onto the EU mainland is predominantly breeding stock. There is some other stock going out. It is not as high as it would be to the North, but it does go there.

The sheep trade was and is a good trade. Last year, it suffered slightly for two main reasons, one of which is that the price of sheep in Ireland was good for farmers here. It was driven by the export of sheep from previous years, which helped to drive up the price of sheep at home last year. The domestic price of sheep was good, which then made the cost of exporters buying those sheep to try to sell them into Europe non-competitive. That was coupled with the fact that the Eid festival was very early last year, and that held back many ram lambs. Our lambing season was too late to supply that meat, so they were back a little, but it will come around again.

A couple of years ago, we opened a new market which was very exciting for us. We sent 5,000 sheep to Azerbaijan, who loved the sheep and have been on regularly since then looking for more. It is difficult to get them transported there, but not impossible - we have done it before, and it is an exciting opportunity. From there, who knows where we can go. There is a strong demand for Irish sheep, but price is currently the thing that is a bit shaky.

It is the same with third country options for sheep and pigs - there are such options. There is currently a large interest from an African buyer. That would have to be done with a vessel-----