Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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955. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of cow and calf pairs, per applicant, on which payments were made under the BEEP scheme in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27714/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The objective of Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme - Suckler (BEEP-S) is to further increase economic and environmental efficiency in the suckler herd though improvement in the quantity and quality of performance data that is collected. This is done through the enhancement of the national herd dataset for genetic evaluations, with a view to supporting the adoption of best practice and more informed decision making at farm level.

BEEP - S targets the weaning efficiency of suckler cows and calves through the collection of the live weights of cows and progeny in the herd of each participant; improving the welfare of suckler calves at the time of weaning through vaccination and meal feeding; and controlling liver fluke in adult suckler cows.

A total of 24,644 applicants received payment under BEEP-S in 2022. They weighed a total of 506,613 cow - calf pairs and the average number of pairs weighed was 20.56 per applicant.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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956. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of BDGP herds not included in BEEP-S in 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27715/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) provided financial support to farmers for using technology and genomics to improve the national herd. Farmers have to meet standards on genotyped animals.

The objective of the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme - Suckler (BEEP-S) was to further increase economic and environmental efficiency in the suckler herd though improvement in the quantity and quality of performance data that is collected. This is done through the enhancement of the national herd dataset for genetic evaluations, with a view to supporting the adoption of best practice and more informed decision making at farm level.

There were a total of 5,946 farmers who were in either BDGP I or BDGP II but were not a participant in the 2022 BEEP-S programme. The BEEP-S programme is not operating in 2023 as the mandatory action within it (weighing) is now a core requirement of the new Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP).