Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this important issue and for outlining the benefits that genotyping would have for our national herd. As the Deputy knows, this is a matter that I have spoken on recently. I have outlined clearly that it is my ambition to ensure that Ireland's is the first beef herd in the world to be fully genotyped. I look forward to taking steps towards that and ensuring we can deliver on it.

Food Vision 2030 is our ten-year strategy for the sustainable development of the agriculture and food sectors. It is our lighthouse policy. Under it, I established two groups - the dairy Food Vision group and the beef and sheep Food Vision group - to advise on how we can meet our 25% emissions reduction target by 2030. In terms of contributing to that, one of the key measures that the groups agreed and advised on was the development of methane-mitigating breeding strategies to build efficiency traits. The key initial component that would be needed to underpin these breeding strategies is a national genotyping strategy.

Genotyping the national herd, and acting effectively in response to the information gathered from that, has the potential to impact positively on farmers' economic and environmental sustainability. Traditionally, the genetic improvement of farmed livestock has been based on the use of data collected on animals in the breeding programme, namely, identification, ancestry and animal performance. Since 2009, this has been increasingly complemented by the addition of genomic, or DNA profile, data.

Through having precise knowledge of the DNA markers associated with the genotype of each animal, livestock breeders can increase the accuracy of selection for traits of interest for both dairy and meat productivity and quality and more recently, methane output. This can result in an almost doubling of the rates of genetic gain achievable, compared to conventional breeding programmes. In addition to improving economic and environmental sustainability, genotyping the national herd would have a number of co-benefits, including providing a unique selling point in terms of traceability, which is important for marketing our quality produce; and providing greater certainty about the quality of dairy beef calves, with benefits both for the farmers rearing those calves and for calf health and welfare.

In Ireland we are well placed to develop work in this area. Currently, Ireland has a relatively high level of genotyping when compared to other countries through innovative programmes such as the beef data and genomics programme and the soon-to-be-launched suckler carbon efficiency programme. Work undertaken by Teagasc and the ICBF has highlighted the significant benefits that can accrue to Irish farmers and related industries with higher genetic merit herds being more profitable and with a lower carbon footprint than lower genetic merit herds.

I am cognisant of and welcome the strong support of all stakeholders for genotyping of the national cattle herd. My ambition is that Ireland will become the first country in the world to genotype all livestock in the country. I want this to happen, I am determined that it will happen and I believe it will happen. By delivering it, we will continue to show the world that Ireland is more than an outpost on the edge of Europe. We will show that Ireland is a leader worldwide in our beef product. We are leaders and pioneers. We have a beef sector that is the envy of the world. As the Deputy is aware, the starting point in all of this is the farmer who calves the cow, rears the calf, produces the weanling or store and ultimately, finishes the animal. I am considering with my team how this might be achieved, having regard to the funding that will be necessary, the climate impact and a variety of organisational and logistical challenges. We can only do this if we are satisfied that it will lead to a real and measurable reduction in emissions and productivity. The Department and I will continue to engage with these stakeholders with a view to fleshing out and taking forward these proposals. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter today, and for his strong advocacy for this as a strategy and a way forward for our beef industry.

See this speech in context