24 Mr. O'Malley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the steps, if any, he has taken since March 1996, to retrieve from the companies involved, the public funds lost by the State by virtue of the European Commission's fine for breaches of EU regulations in the beef sector; and the amount of the £70 million in fines which has been recouped by his Department from those responsible for the breaches in the first instance. [19423/96]

35 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if proceedings have commenced to recoup the sums lost through abuses of the intervention scheme against the companies named in the report of the beef tribunal, other than Shannon Meats, Rathkeale, County Limerick. [19424/96]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 and 35 together.

The possibilities of recovering EU disallowances which related to breaches of EU regulations in the beef sector were examined by a group of senior officials from the Departments of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and of Finance and the Office of the Attorney General, assisted by an independent legal adviser. The group furnished its report to the Minister for Finance and to me in March 1996.