Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

The Minister did not respond to my questions on the previous amendment but the issue crops up here again. There is reference in section 12(5) to a "bitch" being a bitch of more than four months old capable of being used for breeding purposes. One can have young pups on a farm that could be for sale at some point. They may not be sold or they might be awaiting export and so on. That could push people over the breeding quota and they could end up paying much more. Four months is wrong and something must be done about that. The Minister cannot be that restrictive regarding dog breeders.