The policy of total herd depopulation which has been in place since 1989 has served Ireland extremely well in terms of international markets, helping to maintain access which otherwise could have been denied. The basis for the current herd depopulation policy is primarily to facilitate the certification of meat and milk products for third country markets. In this regard the comprehensive range of BSE controls, including the depopulation policy, has been useful as an effective tool to regain a foothold in third country markets which had been closed to beef from the EU. I am keeping the depopulation policy, which is quite expensive, under very careful review. However, I have no proposals at this stage to deviate from the current arrangements.