Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The administrative burden and low returns of the Government's new €52 million beef data and genomics programme are undermining this vital industry as the scheme is running at 30% behind its participation target, due a lot of issues with red tape. The original target was 35,000 but fewer than 24,500 have signed up. Does the Minister agree that the 35,000 farmers' enrolment target is not attainable and an underspend is going to happen? This is the money which I reckon will be left over.

The beef industry is the cornerstone of Irish agriculture. It employs more people than any other sector and is worth over €2 billion a year. Ireland's best asset for beef production is our 1.1 million beef cow herd, kept on approximately 75,000 farms. The genomics money is not going to be used as it is not reaching its target.

The Minister is going to open it again; it is still not reaching it. I gave the figures, showing that it is behind. I believe money will be left over. We want to use up all this money and we want to keep this vital industry alive. The only way we can keep it alive is by direct payments. The average beef suckler herd would be 22. If the Minister looked at providing €200 for the first 30 cows with the money that is left over, it would go a long way to help the beef farmer and keep the beef industry alive.

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