Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 3 July 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Statement of Strategy 2023-2026: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

5:30 pm

Mr. Bill Callanan:

We will have a million calves genotyped this year. The turnaround time, with the full support and co-operation of farmers, for getting the samples into the laboratories and back to farmers was around 12 days. That is a superb performance for what was almost a standing start. I have to compliment the ICBF on how this was rolled out and the engagement with it. It is an ambitious programme. There will always be teething problems. I will bring back the question as regards three days. However, we cannot lose sight of the strategic importance of this direction of travel. I do not think members will have had many phone calls from farmers taking a contrarian view and saying the programme has not worked for them. We should not lose sight of that. However, if there are a few issues with the process, I accept that we need to engage on them and we will do so.