Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

Despite claims to the contrary, I have not backed away from any commitments to sheep farmers. The sector remains a priority and is one that needs assistance. I have no doubt that proposals to support the sheep sector will form a central part of the discussions to which I have invited the farm organisations later this month. I look forward to that dialogue and to constructive discussion and will give full consideration to the proposals made, including those that have been publicly articulated recently.

Having concluded agreement on the Common Agricultural Policy health check, the Agriculture Council met only last Friday for an initial consideration of the CAP post-2013. I restated my firm conviction that Europe needs a strong agricultural production base and outlined my concerns that any reduction in food production in the EU would be taken up elsewhere where less efficient production systems exist. This would result in a heavier carbon footprint. I emphasised the continuing need for an active and appropriately resourced European agricultural policy to achieve the EU's objectives for the agrifood sector and to help Irish and European farmers and processors adapt to the new and demanding emerging challenges. I also stressed the need for effective rural development programmes which play a key role in regional development and in the protection of the environment and stated the critical importance of having equivalent standards for imports from outside the EU.

Improved animal health standards continue to be very important generally and, more specifically, for farmers and the livestock industry. Consequently, I am very pleased to be in a position to say that considerable progress has been made in dealing with two important diseases that have had a significant impact here in the last decade, namely, BSE and brucellosis.

BSE has been a particular priority of mine and also of my predecessor, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Mary Coughlan. We wished to have the age for BSE testing raised significantly. I have long been of the view that the current testing requirements, which are fixed at EU level, are excessive. One of the first things I did when I became Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was to write to the EU Commissioner to press her to increase the age for BSE testing as a priority matter. I am very pleased that the Commission has now agreed to raise the age for testing to 48 months from early next year. The new arrangements will mean 400,000 fewer BSE tests on cattle, resulting in a significant saving, a minimum of €8m a year, for farmers and the industry.

Excellent progress has been made on brucellosis in recent years. From a situation where recently we had more than 1,000 herd breakdowns in a single year, there have been no confirmed outbreaks of brucellosis in Ireland since April 2006. This is most welcome progress and it enables me to apply to the EU for an official brucellosis-free status for Ireland early next year. The progress made is due to a number of factors, not least the full co-operation of all stakeholders with the eradication regime. This included comprehensive testing, depopulation and other arrangements.

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