Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 13 December 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Recent Reclassification of Beef Indexes: Discussion

Mr. Sean Coughlan:

We are licensed by the Department. There is an EU requirement that an entity of the Department or somebody needs to be licensed to do that. The important point there is that most genetic evaluations globally are carried out by the organisations that have a commercial interest in the animals they are evaluating. I am not sure if the Senator was here earlier when I was discussing that. That is an important point. In the US or New Zealand, the entities that are evaluating the animals have a commercial interest in the animals and whether they rise or fall. If they drop the index on an animal, it will have a commercial impact. The ICBF has a different structure. We do not have that commercial interest in the animal. While it is patently not easy to make the changes, it is easier to-----