Madam President, I am a new Member of this House. Before that I was a farming association leader. I am also a farmer. To suggest that as farmers we do not care for our animals and worry how they are treated is just a nonsense. Of course we respect animals. Our income depends on it.

Animals in transport must have sufficient space but to suggest that we cannot transport animals is also quite ridiculous. Animals in transport must have sufficient space. They must be unloaded and rested if the journeys are long and, in the case of journeys by sea on which I mainly want to concentrate, animals should ideally be penned in small groups, preferably not more than eight animals per pen. That is unusually the case. They must have adequate lying space, dry bedding and adequate food and water.

I believe it is possible to transport both cattle and sheep over long distances by both land and sea in a way that is neither cruel nor upsetting to the animal. In Ireland we have long experience of transporting live cattle by sea in a very satisfactory manner. All those animals are going for further feeding. Apart from the consideration of animal welfare and we all accept that is paramount, there are some other considerations which should be taken into account.

Live export is very often the most cost-effective method of disposing of surplus stock from the European Union. This is what our customers want. This is the stock our customers want. They do not want meat in some third countries; they want live cattle. Under these circumstances, if we can do it properly, that is the market we should fill. It avoids the monthly charges associated with intervention storage and it also avoids the public disquiet and outcry at the stockpiling of surplus food. We should reflect on the massive reductions in the last year and a half of our intervention stocks when we have dropped from a million tonnes in intervention to something around 200,000 tonnes. I am sure the Commissioner could give me the exact figure but it is around that, which represents just a safety margin. So that is an important consideration.

From the farming point of view, live exports maintain an effective balance in the market for both cattle and sheep. In addition, in recent years it is largely the live exports that have reduced the massive tonnages of intervention. We need rules on the humane treatment of animals in transport. But we must be very careful. Failure to achieve satisfactory agreement on the transport of animals would cause huge economic damage in my country. Ireland earns almost 40% - and it has already been said by my colleague across the house - of its export wealth from the agriculture and food industry. The beef trade is a very important element. It is a core element in the totality of that industry. I am convinced that it is possible to legislate in such a way as to satisfy justified animal welfare concerns on the one and, at the same time, prevent the inevitable economic damage that would result from unnecessary or unjustified rules.