Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One cannot argue that there was no consultation at political level. There was consultation at farm organisation level in 2015. There was consultation with farm organisations in the context of the sheep welfare scheme, which was worth in the region of €20 million to the sheep industry. Therefore, I do not accept there has not been consultation, both formal and informal, at political and farm organisation levels.

I announced the mandatory extension of EID for all sheep in a press release issued on 2 May 2018. The new rules will require all sheep sold from 1 October 2018 to be identified electronically. I announced also the introduction of a one-off support measure, up to a maximum of €50 per keeper, for the first purchase of EID tags.

Electronic tag readers and associated software are included as eligible investments in the TAMS to assist sheep farmers in flock management. There will be no change to the identification requirements of sheep aged over 12 months, all of which will be required to be identified with a full EID or bolus set. This measure was necessary as the current sheep identification system is overly complex, relying heavily on the reading and transcription of lengthy identification numbers at all levels of production. The current system relies almost totally on paper records, leading to avoidable errors at all stages of the movement cycle of the animal, including at slaughter.

Let me outline the benefits of EID to the sheep industry as a whole. Full EID in sheep will simplify the sheep tagging system and will significantly reduce the onerous administrative and record-keeping burdens currently imposed on sheep farmers as they move sheep to livestock marts, slaughter plants and export assembly centres. The new rules will provide a more robust sheep traceability system and will further support the development and sustainability of the sheep industry, as detailed in Food Wise 2025. EID will enhance our opportunities for market access to third countries, including the USA, as well as considering the potential of sheep meat access to Japan and other markets. The move to full EID and the inclusion of EID readers as an eligible investment in TAMS will make the recording of the movement of lambs off farm much more convenient and will greatly simplify the paperwork involved for sheep farmers.

Animal health is a significant concern for the Department in the context of the sheep traceability system. Trace-back is required from perspectives of food safety and animal health. Producers will have a significant reduction in both the administrative burden and the time and effort associated with the movement of sheep, and will have more accurate records, thus reducing the risk of a cross-compliance penalty related to sheep. Societal and market expectations regarding food traceability are increasing in line with electronic developments. In the interests of the highest standards of protecting the food chain and public health in general, reducing the administrative burden on farmers and underpinning the animal health status of the national flock, the extension of EID to all sheep is a necessity.

While I accept that additional costs will accrue to farmers in extending EID to all sheep, they will benefit from a significant reduction in the labour requirements for dispatch documents that must accompany all sheep on movement. At present, keepers are required to complete the individual tag number of each sheep presented in a batch, a task that is very onerous and open to error and can result in the loss of traceability. Under the new system, marts and factories will operate as approved central points of recording and will provide the presenting farmer with a printed list of all tag numbers scanned in a particular batch, which in turn can be associated with the corresponding dispatch document. Accordingly, the farmer will only be required to record the total number of sheep presented. All other information such as the name, address, flock identifier, etc., is pre-printed on the dockets.

The Government is keen to ensure that we make further progress on sheepmeat access to third countries in 2018 and beyond. Ireland has market access for sheepmeat to 45 countries at present, compared to our beef access to 65 countries, and exports of dairy products to almost 180 countries. Opening new markets for sheepmeat access, including potentially valuable markets such as the United States of America, Japan and, in due course, China, is therefore a key concern. The enhancement of the current sheep identification system will allow the sheep sector to further develop and build on the impressive performance which, in 2017, saw this sector increase the value of its exports by 12% in volume and 12% in value to €310 million, supporting some 35,000 farm families directly in addition to supporting several thousand jobs indirectly in rural areas.

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