asked the Taoiseach if he will give an estimate of the present number of cattle in the country; and the number of live cattle which have been exported in each of the last five years.

The number of cattle in the State as at 1 June 1980, the latest date for which the requested information is available, was estimated at 6,935,000. The numbers of live cattle exported in each of the last five years were: 1975, 695, 300; 1976, 370, 100; 1977, 453, 200; 1978, 549, 800, and 1979, 327, 200.

The information available to date for 1980 relates to the 11 months, January to November, during which period 448, 400 live cattle were exported.