Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the two gentlemen for their presentation. First, members are meeting as an Oireachtas joint committee on agriculture and must acknowledge how improved genetics in the dairy industry have increased profitability in the milk industry. Members must be positive about the scheme although I acknowledge there have been some teething problems. While I heard members of the Opposition state the scheme is not being taken up, the scheme is full and 30,000 farmers have applied for it. While it will be their decision as to whether they remain in the scheme, the improved genetics within the dairy industry have been evident and Mr. Coughlan has made a point there. In respect of the earnings to be made, he stated it was €20 extra per replacement per year. Is he stating that if one is at a one-star animal rating but gets to a five-star animal rating, the animal in question will be €100 more profitable? Is that basically also his point in respect of the suckler industry, if one can achieve a five-star rating?

The data began to be collected in 2008, depending on whether people had participated in the previous scheme. As some farmers are entering this programme for the first time, I presume their data are on record and the federation will be able to access those. In respect of cows or bulls that have been in the scheme since 2008, does that mean those data will be available immediately to facilitate the rating of those animals? My third point pertains to the animals in the west in particular where, as Deputy Ó Cuív has noted, there are many small suckler farmers, many of whose animals are exported. What is the position regarding the genomics of an animal that is exported as a weanling calf? There is no record here if it is killed in France, Italy or Spain or wherever. Is the ICBF able to gain access to ascertain how that animal graded in respect of its weight and things like that? Would that be part of the scheme?

I note that 20 June 2019 is a key date because people will have until that time to increase their percentage of animals up to four stars. While it will be all right if one is using an artificial insemination five-star bull, many people in the suckler industry must use a stock bull because it is hard to detect heat in cows in a suckler herd. However, in the case of larger farmers and even some others who are obliged to run two stock bulls, how will the ICBF differentiate between the bulls they have used on the farm? Moreover, some purebred breeders are not even in genomic schemes and one may buy a bull without knowing whether it is a four or five-star animal, and until one starts to use that bull, it will not be rated. If one is filling out a registration form for a calf, one merely specifies the breed of bull as the form does not ask for the bull's tag number if one is running two bulls. Will this be taken into consideration and has the federation considered that it will be necessary to identify them? If one uses artificial insemination, one knows precisely what bull one has used but if someone is using two stock bulls, they may not keep records indicating what cows were with what stock bulls. How will that be solved or sorted on the ICBF's side of the scheme?

Although it has teething problems, this scheme is welcome. If the benefit is €20 per star rating or €100 per animal, that is a lot of money to put into farmers' pockets. As sucklers and the beef industry have been under pressure in recent years with regard to profitability, it is to be hoped the scheme will improve our herd in order that it will become more profitable.