Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Mr. Gleeson admitted that the scheme is experimental and yet under no circumstances will he or the Minister accept an amendment to simplify the scheme. There is concern about the matter. As has been said by Deputy Ó Cuív, if the Department does not make some changes to the scheme, then an awful lot of people will drop out. It will not be worthwhile participating in the scheme unless one is a big farmer with between 50 and 80 cows. A small farmer with ten cows will receive only €60 or €65 each or €650 a year, so it will not be worthwhile for him or her to participate. The scheme will not benefit small farmers who are the very people we are trying to keep in beef production. There must be some changes that we can made to make the scheme more attractive.

Testing is another factor. What will happen when one runs out of animals after conducting tests for four and five years? Where will one find animals to test? According to the terms of the scheme, one must buy another ten animals just to conduct a test, but farmers cannot afford such a practice. I am a beef farmer and I rear calves right up until they become beef cattle. Therefore, I know that farmers cannot afford to buy new animals. If a farmer does not have the money, where will he or she get animals to fill the quota stipulated by the Department? I cannot fill the quota so I must buy an animal or animals and prices will increase as a result. The beef market will go haywire because I and others will have to bid against other buyers.