On the agriculture side there are four or five officials. The name I mentioned is not the person to whom the Deputy referred, he is the person in charge of the agriculture division. I looked at this file this morning and, in regard to the incident where the papers were altered, there was no attempt by the person to disguise the change. This was supplementary data sent in a few days after closing date. The person kept a copy of the original on the file and on the top changed the date. A valid application came in from a meat company on time, but the company omitted to include details such as the origin and destination of the beef. That information came in on supplementary paper and it was on the supplementary paper the official in question made the alteration.
The senior officials who administer this matter on behalf of the EU do not consider this to be defacing or forging of documents. I am told there would have been other cases where a similar helpful attitude was taken to deal with what would be considered as red tape. The issue of Emerald Meats, where the Department was found in the wrong — I accept the Supreme Court ruling and we are not taking that matter further — is entirely separate from what is called the Ballywalter case, to which the Deputy referred. Irrespective of one's opinion of the Ballywalter case, the AP in question is not handing any dealings involving the EU Commission and Ireland. Therefore, there is no conflict of interest.