Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. O'Driscoll and his officials, and I congratulate him on his appointment as Secretary General. He has always been very informative when he appeared before the committee with Mr. Moran on other occasions. Deputy Ó Cuív has dealt with many of the issues I intended to raise, one of which was the Russian ban.

The other matter is trade agreements. The TTIP and South American agreement will affect us. I note with regard to South America that no real movement on negotiations is envisaged for the first half of 2015. What is the situation with the disease status of the herds in South America at present? Must that be resolved before negotiations can take place? Are the US, Japan, Australia and other countries negotiating trade agreements with the South American countries as well?

I must agree with Deputy Ó Cuív on the genomics scheme. The scheme and its concept will improve the herd, but there is too much red tape involved. The requirement to sign up for six years is not feasible because people might have to drop out of the scheme due to circumstances. There must be clarification. The penalties are that one must pay back all of the money. People might decide to change their farming practice; somebody could decide to go into tillage after two or three years. It is unfair and the six year tie to the scheme must be examined. We accept the requirement that one must use a five star bull. However, after two or three years, when the progeny is being tested, the bull's status might drop to a three star bull, so suddenly the farmer is out of the scheme in that way. Also, trying to source three and four star heifers could push prices up at the marts and perhaps make the scheme unviable because of the price people will have to pay for replacements. Being obliged to have so many replacements in the herds will make the scheme unviable.

Deputy Ó Cuív mentioned the superlevy and the €69 million we are facing. Will Mr. O'Driscoll clarify how many years the instalments will be paid? He also mentioned interest rates. Is an interest rate being charged on the superlevy bill?