Mr. Nevan McKiernan:

There are different reasons figures go up and down. New bloodlines are introduced all the time. To diversify breeding, we need to bring in new bloodlines all the time. When new bloodlines come in, they move the bloodlines that are there. It is a fact and it is reality. That is the way the figures move up and down, and we cannot change that. There is nothing wrong with the indices but they should not be linked to a scheme. Figures are a guide and that is all they can ever be. Any country will say they are a good guide but that is all they are. A scheme cannot be implemented based on figures that change three times a year. For example, when the genomics scheme was first introduced in June 2016, a particular AI bull was cost €63 on the replacement index but is €126 today, which is double. Another example is a bull that was priced at €66 in June 2016 and is €103 today. Another was €236 back in June 2016 and is €147 today. The highest replacement index bull in the country has 12 carcass records on it, which is a French Salers bull. What is happening in the BDGP scheme and what suckler farmers have to put up with is madness.

The scheme is certainly not of benefit. The quality of cattle is disimproving. Farmers are being forced to keep bulls they do not want.

Deputy McConalogue asked a few questions, although he has left the meeting. He asked about feedback on beef bulls and the price of suckler heifers with five stars. A recent sale of five-star cattle was held by an organisation in Tullamore mart. Anyone who was at that will report that the quality of cattle and the prices received for them is an indication star ratings are not working. In our sales, men have to pay over the odds for inferior quality pedigree bulls with five stars. There could be an exceptional bull from a top class bloodline standing in front of farmers and they cannot buy him because he is not four star or five star, perhaps for a number of reasons. It might be as a result of a lack of information in the ICBF database on that bull because he came in from France or the UK. In the last run, we got the inclusion of UK data in the ICBF valuations, which is a major development and a positive step.

If a farmer keeps crossbred bulls and uses them in his suckler herd, he might as well let a goat in with his suckling cows. Farmers were once penalised for having such bulls in their herd ,yet years later we are promoting them. I do not know how far we have come. Maybe I have left something out and perhaps other members would like to address the issues.