Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

This pertains to the animal marts section. Section 65 is being amended to allow for activities involving animal sales other than in the traditional mart to be licensed in the same manner. This change inserts a new definition. As the definitions now no longer end with the word "pigs", the full stop after the word "pigs" is removed and replaced with a semicolon. This definition is then carried through to the subsequent sections of this Part. In other words, the Department had initially put together this section to deal with animal marts and the series of things that must be done in respect of licensing for marts and so on. However, it was rightly pointed out to the Department that there are other activities related to the buying, selling and trading of animals that may not be classified as a mart per se and those areas must also be covered. This is the reason for tabling this group of amendments.