Dr. Andrew Cromie:

I will respond to Deputy Ó Cuív's questions. Many of them hinged on the replacement strategy and artificial insemination. I mentioned education and training. The Deputy was concerned about how many people will read the terms and conditions or seek to attend the education and training courses. As I indicated, our plan is to start the education and training in February. It is expected that the courses will be completed in 2016 for the 27,500 herds. Our plan is to do the training in groups of approximately 25 farmers, each doing a four-hour training session. Approximately two and a half hours of that will be devoted to the Euro-stars and replacement strategy in particular. We are very anxious to adopt an approach such that the herd owners who find the scheme somewhat more challenging owing to their not having as many four- and five-star females initially will be targeted for education and training early. There will be constant communication with the farmers on the status of their herds.

The first beef data and genomics programme reports indicated the status of herds with regard to the 2018 requirement. We have to have a very accurate and up-to-date picture as more data, including genotype data, become available. We anticipate communicating very regularly, at least twice per year, and giving farmers the latest indication as to where we anticipate their herds to be in 2018 and 2020, particularly in regard to the replacement strategy requirements. Deputy O'Cuív's concern about a bull that has been purchased and whose evaluation may be starting to slip down, thus affecting his progeny, is that the farmer will know about this for the first time only in 2018.