Mr. Hugh Farrell:

I will follow up on the pedigrees and I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for the question. We have dealt with many of these issues in the past while and with frustration at the valuation system through the marts. Reports were coming back on this great work that was done, and still we have a ceiling price of €3,000. We know the price for commercial cattle today is in excess of it. I saw €3,620 given for a calved suckler animal the other night in a local mart not too far from us.

On the pedigrees, €5,000 is a Stark bull. If that animal goes, it has to be replaced. Then you are taking a price of €4,000 or €3,000. We pushed to get this price increased and the ceiling removed, and a proposal came back to give us €5,000 on the pedigree cows. We put it to them that we wanted the price on spring in-calf heifers because they are the same but they are highly valued. A figure of €5,000 in today's world is sort of an average price or thereabouts in the pedigree system.

We have dealt with numerous farms. In one case there were losses in excess of €20,000 and in others of €10,000. The farmers lost that much money on top of the ceiling price without having other cattle or other bulls to sell. They were ready for sale and were in that business every year selling. They lived off the land and had no other employment. This is true in many cases with the pedigrees because the farms do it exceptionally well. Due to that then, there were bulls that were sold in the factories at a loss of €1,800 and €2,000 on the maximum market value in the pedigree ring sales. This is not being accounted for and has to be moved forward.

The figure of €5,000 is a welcome move forward but it is not practical given what we are seeing every day in the sales rings and the way it has been over recent years. I talk to different pedigree committees about their average prices and what is happening. Regarding the number of bulls presented for sale that are bought from any farm, as we said earlier on, if two bulls went down on a farm and a farmer had five more to sell, where they all had the same value or thereabouts, all of a sudden that farmer is going to take a lot less. This is not acceptable and has to be brought into it so that they are paid for accordingly. We need it on the pedigree animals for in-calf heifers, cows and the bulls across the board. We also need it on the income supplement in order that they are recognised as a separate entity.