Mr. Michael Spellman:

I would like to elaborate on some of the points Mr. Doyle made in his presentation because they are important. Speaking to the members as legislators, I would say that with the introduction of a full compulsory EID programme we could have the immediate phasing out of passports. We had a meeting with the Department officials some time ago and between €7 million and €8.5 million per year would be saved if we got rid of the passports. That may seem to be an insignificant amount of money but when we consider the scarce resources available for other programmes within agriculture and so on, it could be better spent in some of the areas we need to have improved as we go from one year to the next.

Another important point as far as farmers and stockholders are concerned is that there would be no issue with cross-compliance checks that cause so much anguish for farmers. Many problems arise with cross-compliance checks because there are difficulties with the tagging of stock but all that would be eliminated. There would be no need to maintain an accurate, up to date register because all the information would be available.

As Mr. Doyle stated, with regard to the selling of stock, going through the marts and so on, all the information contained in the electronic tag would be transferred real time to the national animal identification and movement, AIM, system. That is a huge advantage. We should consider the benefits that would accrue to the State. Our members, our Minister, processors and exporters are constantly trying to find new markets. The production of beef is an important industry for this country and we pride ourselves in producing some of the best beef in the world. When customers who want to buy our beef come to this country, they find we are operating a system that is foolproof as far as the traceability of the beef is concerned from the birth of the calf to the time of slaughter. As Mr. Doyle outlined, as a result of the chip in the tag, the customer will have a foolproof record of all the medicines that were administered throughout the life of the beast.

For somebody who puts a good deal of emphasis on public health issues and the importance of the food chain, that must enhance our capacity to sell beef in a wider market because the people who will come to buy it will be impressed by the measures we are taking to ensure that what we sell is the best in the world. That is what we should strive to do.

It was stated that where the programme is already in place - for example, Australia and New Zealand - tags are only applied as the stock leaves the farms. If there is concern on the part of anyone, be it farm organisations or individual stockholders, that this measure will incur extra cost on their enterprise, with the greatest respect, that is nonsense.

In terms of this being implemented, we should decide on a start date - for example, 1 January 2017 or whatever date the Minister chooses - and say that from then on, all newborn calves will have their electronic tag applied and that only the stock being readied to leave the farm will have the additional tags applied. Even allowing for the length of time breeding stock may remain on the farm, within five or six years we would have a full herd of stock that is electronically tagged. Everybody would be used to the system then and there would be no issues around it.

In terms of people having concerns that there would be additional expense on the part of the stockholder in that they would have to buy readers or whatever, we represent the livestock marts and because of the benefits that would accrue to the marts - the same benefits will accrue to the abattoirs, the factories and the export assembly points - we will be prepared to install the readers. There will be readers around the sales ring, at the point of entry for the stock, in the chutes they go through where they are scanned and as they leave the mart. That will bring a greater degree of security around the stock while they are in the sales yard or wherever else. From the point of view of the people working in the mart, there is a far greater degree of safety. As Mr. Doyle outlined, they will not have to catch the beast by the head and try to clean a tag that has been soiled or damaged and cannot be read effectively. All that will be a thing of the past. Similarly, if a farmer has a not-too-expensive hand-held reader, he can walk out into his yard - particularly in the winter when he would have animals in for feeding or whatever - and scan the cattle to determine the status of their testing or their withdrawal periods, which is critical. People selling stock have to maintain their animals and be aware of the withdrawal period in regard to any medicines they may have administered in the previous month or two. All that will be available and it will be foolproof.

I rarely use the term "no-brainer" but this is exactly that. Based on what the Scottish people have outlined - this comes from the manufacturers of the tags - it would only cost approximately €1 more per set than the conventional tag. When we get into scale, and if we were to enter into some sort of purchasing arrangement with out nearest neighbour, that price will decrease. That is as much as I have to say. We will be happy to answer any questions members may wish to ask.