Mr. Cormac Healy:

I can certainly start the ball rolling. The Department can also address many of the issues raised.

On Senator Mulherin's point regarding the benefits to different stakeholders, I do not accept that the farmer is the only one who will pay. We have outlined, and people generally accept, that the scheme will have benefits for the overall sector. The industry's role is to ensure the maximum price is paid and we are held to account on that basis every day. If an issue with our traceability system resulted in a loss of market or loss of customers that impacted on price, we would be quickly taken to task. Part of the benefit of the system is ensuring we maximise the return from the marketplace.

It is not only farmers who are investing. The industry must constantly invest in its systems. If marts and factories are to operate as the central points of recording, CPRs, the industry will have to invest further.

Deputy McConalogue asked about cost savings. Unfortunately, I do not necessarily believe the industry will achieve cost savings from electronic tagging. If the industry acts as the CPRs, as is planned under the new system, more readers will be required. We do not expect to achieve staff savings through the reading exercise. What it will do is ensure we know that our reading and recording are done accurately in future.

Senator Paul Daly asked questions about breeding. I will not attempt to speak in great detail about breeding technology and science, other than to say that a fundamental aspect of breeding programmes is to have accurate data at the base. I understand the points the Senator made on individual rams and groups of rams and how one determines parentage. I have limited knowledge of this area. We have a relationship with Sheep Ireland, which is the breeding organisation that forms part of the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation ICBF. We also work with farmers on a Sheep Ireland committee. I understand some flocks are being monitored. There are pedigree flocks and performance monitoring flocks. These are operating on the basis of individual electronic tag identification of the sheep and we are recording that data and feeding them back to Sheep Ireland. I will not comment on anything that reinforces the overall quantity of data and their accuracy as a base line because I do not know the ins and outs of the process. However, the Senator asked some relevant questions on the issue.

Two members asked related questions. Senator Paul Daly asked how the new system will affect Easter lamb and Deputy McConalogue spoke about animals that are brought directly from the farm of origin to the factory. As I stated, a certain proportion of animals are electronically identified at present. The ewe flock in its entirety is identified, as is imported lamb and lamb from a number of commercial farms. Traceability for animals that are brought directly to factories is relatively straightforward, as members indicated. We need to move to a single system. There are issues with many other lambs, however, because lambs brought directly from farms to the slaughterhouse do not for all or even the majority of lambs. If we are moving to electronic identification, it will be logical to have one system.

As the Department outlined, marts and factories would operate as central points of recording. I will allow the officials from the Department to answer the questions on tag readouts, cross-compliance, etc. We are working through the detail of how this will be done because it will require some changes in meat plants and marts.

Senator Lawlor asked a number of questions.

I will leave the question on cross-compliance to the Department. Traceability is not only about marketing and linking to a breed. It is also a regulatory requirement. It is not only factories imposing a specific requirement. Council Regulation No. 21/2004 Brussels lays down specific rules and requirements for traceability and identification. It is not industry's doing.

I do not accept Senator Lawlor's argument that traceability stops on the slaughterhouse floor. Once an animal goes to the cutting plant it goes to a batch phase, as is the system throughout the world. A group of animals is then brought into the cutting plant and dealt with on a batch system. Should there be an issue with product on the retail shelf or with the consumer that requires trace-back, the product is traced back to the batch of production in the cutting plant and then to the individual lambs that were supplied to the plant. There is traceability but, as I indicated, it operates on a batch basis. Unfortunately, we do not take it to the level of a packet of two lamb chops. However, given that 3 million sheep are slaughtered per annum, that is not necessarily doable.