Madam President, I support a lot of what my predecessor has said. What always concerns me about this sort of legislation - a lot of which I agree with - is that whatever legislation is brought out to protect our animals, we must make sure that it is enforced. Otherwise there is little point in bringing it out.

Fifteen years ago when I was a member on the NFU livestock committee, I warned about this very problem. I also represented the Meat and Livestock Commission and again warned about the problem, not just the transport of live animals but the problem of the closure of slaughterhouses. The more slaughterhouses that were closed, the further the animals had to be transported and this is a major problem, particularly in our country.

Many of our small farmers in the United Kingdom and in Ireland are very much dependent on the livestock industry for their livelihood. Farmers always understand and care for their animals otherwise they would not be in a position to make any money out of it. It always concerns me that people start by saying "Farmers do not look after animals". They are just as concerned as anyone else about the way they are transported.

In a perfect world we would slaughter the animals as near as possible to the point of production and transport them on the hook, as the gentleman across there said. In a real world, our customers want them slaughtered locally, in their own style and for their own production. This has caused this particular problem. Therefore I am not calling for an outright ban, I would love to see a continual changeover to transporting our meat on the hook. That is not realistic at the moment because we must make sure that these animals are transported in the correct manner. There will always buyers for live animals and if we are not careful and we put a ban on, what will happen is that they will find another way, another country and another purpose for transporting them. That can create a very dangerous situation. We have tried to ban rhino horns, we have tried to ban cannabis and various other drugs and there is always a way round it because of the financial implications.

In winding up I would say that we as Members of this august House are responding to the public demand for a fair treatment of animals, that is all we ask for. If we are to continue to hold the respect of the public then we must make sure that the legislation that is passed by the Council and by the Commission is acted upon properly.