Unfortunately, I could not be here yesterday so I want to be associated with the wishes of sympathy to the Bonner family and to my friend and colleague Senator Craughwell on the passing of his wife. Comhbhrón ó chroí leat, a chara.

I raise the possibility of the Leader organising a debate with the Minister for agriculture on a couple of issues that have come to the fore over the summer. One is the decision by Brittany Ferries to cease the transportation of live animals, which is a vital pathway for our calf trade to continental Europe. This will show itself as a major issue with the calving season commencing this autumn and especially next spring. The Minister might come to the House and fill us in on where the alternatives are on that.

The other matter comes on the back of what was a fantastic summer weather-wise. It was not fantastic for everybody as we have a serious problem with drought - not the failure of crops but a lack of yield as well as grass burning up. It is from Portlaoise down. The south of the country seems to be the problem. There was a recent Teagasc survey on fodder for the coming winter and the result of that is there is enough fodder in the country to cover the winter but it may not be located where it is needed. We may need to introduce a transportation scheme or a redistribution scheme of some sort to get the fodder from where it is available to where it is going to be most needed over the coming winter.

Those matters, coupled with the big ticket item of the multi-annual financial framework and ongoing CAP negotiations, mean it would be appropriate for the Minister to brief the House.