Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, is not here. I am taking this matter on his behalf. The ICBF was established in 1998 following a number of years of industry consultation among all stakeholders in the cattle breeding industry. ICBF is the only body approved under EU legislation, in particular Commission decision 2006/427/EC, to carry out testing, genetic evaluation and publication of breeding values for Irish dairy and beef cattle. The objective of the ICBF is to achieve the greatest possible genetic improvement in the national cattle herd for the benefit of Irish farmers and the national dairy and beef industries by collecting, collating and distributing available information of practical and scientific industry while promoting the exchange of all such information and data among breeders of cattle in Ireland.

The organisation delivers a public good in the area of cattle breed improvement, which is the foundation of a profitable and sustainable dairy and beef herd. As an advanced livestock country, Ireland has been at the forefront of utilising the latest advances in cattle breeding from around the world to ensure Irish farmers can benefit from the best genetics for their farm businesses. The organisation of the breeding industry under the umbrella of the ICBF has helped Irish artificial insemination, AI, companies maintain a competitive business and be able to provide the highest quality AI bulls to Irish dairy farmers in particular. Cattle breeding worldwide is becoming a very competitive business and a small number of global players are determined to dominate the world market. The Irish breeding sector has helped withstand these competitive pressures by organising itself under the umbrella of the ICBF.

Regarding funding since 2009, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has allocated a total of €6.238 million to the ICBF under an annual block grant and €8.08 million in infrastructural funds. Some €800,000 has been allocated towards operational costs for 2017 and €920,000 for infrastructural projects.

The ICBF is a farmer-led body which receives its funding from a number of sources including farmers, the breeding industry and the State. The funding model used by the ICBF for many years involved one third of income coming from farmers, one third from service organisations and one third from an annual grant from the Department. This model has served the ICBF well. The tag levy, which formerly raised approximately €900,000, has been a critical source of funding for the ICBF for many years, constituting approximately 20% of core funding. Recent policy changes and amendments to tag order forms resulted in a significant drop in levy collection and an absence of certainty for this funding stream, as has been referred to by the Deputy. It is broadly accepted by the various stakeholders in the ICBF that a contribution from all farmers is the fairest and most appropriate mechanism to support the work being done on the national breeding programme as it maintains farmer control of the benefits and generates benefit for all farmers. The Department has been working with the ICBF and tag providers with the objective of finding a solution that addresses the funding shortfalls but which maintains the pillar approach to funding. Discussions on this matter are ongoing and it is hoped they can be finalised in the near future.

See this speech in context