Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to be able to participate in this discussion on the sheep sector. I want to follow on from what Deputy Ó Murchú said about sheep kills and the legislation that is necessary to try to control dogs in the countryside. Unfortunately, in recent days we had another sheep kill in Tipperary. It is becoming a far too frequent occurrence. We are just going to have to develop a DNA-based system to identify dogs so that we will be able to prove accurately what dogs have committed the carnage. We all see photographs of such attacks. To see sheep savaged by dogs is as horrible a sight as one could see. Unfortunately, we have had a fairly frequent occurrence of it in Tipperary in recent months. There was a very vicious sheep kill in Lorrha on Christmas Day and there have been three or four sheep kills in the short time since then. I know the Minister is intent on bringing legislation forward on it. It is something we must stamp out. It cannot be tolerated. It is a privilege to own an animal but it also brings responsibility. Owners of dogs have a responsibility to ensure they do not wander aimlessly at night and carry out such destruction. A nice domestic pet can be a different animal when he gets into a gang of dogs. Unfortunately, when they get the scent of blood they can become very vicious.

Thankfully, the price of sheep has gone up in the past two weeks. Hogget and lamb prices have gone up by 70 cent or 80 cent a kilogram. There was a lot of room for that improvement as the price had come down alarmingly from where it was last year. I hope it will continue to increase as we get into the season for Easter lamb. That is a very expensive product to produce and farmers want some kind of meaningful return to justify the cost of production.

I wish to raise the weight restriction being operated by processors. This is something we must focus on. It is difficult for people to understand that there is no payment at all for 2 kg of the dead weight of a sheep. For example, for a hogget weighing 25 kg, the factories pay for 23 kg and nothing more. The extra carcass weight does not get dumped so the processors have a serious advantage. The restrictions for lamb are even tighter. Certain breeds of lamb and hogget are able to carry a significantly higher weight than the processors allow, as they do not have much fat cover. This issue must be examined. If the weight restriction of 2 kg or 3 kg was lifted for lamb and hogget, it would add greatly to the profitability of producing the lamb. If we take the price at the moment for hoggets at €6.80 a kilogramme, if we were allowed 2 kg extra on the weight it would be more than €13 extra for the hogget. That would make a huge difference to the profitability of the sector. This is something that must be urgently examined.

We have all seen the reports on the average profitability of ewes in the past year at €7 per ewe. I do not have to tell the Minister that is an extremely low figure. One would have to have a huge herd to have any kind of significant economic return. That is including the €12 subsidy that the Government is paying, so the ewe is actually living at a loss. We must look at the subsidy and examine how we can get extra funding from the Exchequer in next year's budget to increase it, in order to try to maintain the ewe flock. At peak, we had 5 million ewes in the country. We are now down to 2.7 million ewes, which is virtually a reduction of 50% on what we had in the 1980s. That has led to difficulties with processing as well because we have the processing facilities and throughput brings down the cost per unit of processing. The level of our ewe flock is at a stage whereby if it goes any lower it would seriously damage the industry.

The Northern Ireland protocol and Brexit have been mentioned in the debate a good few times today. To put it mildly, I am sceptical about producers of lamb in England, Scotland and Wales using the protocol to get lamb into Irish processors and thereby gain entry into the French market. I have been told it is not happening but I have my doubts. I would like to see greater transparency in this regard. We had Bord Bia in before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine last week and it assured us that any lamb that is sold under Origin Green is of Irish origin. I hope that is the case. Sheep flock owners are concerned that Northern Ireland is being used as an avenue to get sheep into the Republic and on to the French market. We must keep an eye on that. We all want cross-Border trade, but the UK made a decision to exit the EU. Welsh, Scottish and English sheep farmers voted for that and they cannot have access to the lucrative French market through a back door.

I wish to raise another issue with the Minister. We had two young entrepreneurs before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine a couple of weeks ago. They are promoting sheep milk, which is a very viable industry on the Continent, especially in Greece and Spain. Teagasc has not done any research into its viability in this country. I urge the Minister to ensure some research is done to see if we could have a viable sheep milk industry. Sheep milk has a lot of health advantages. Sheep cheese in continental Europe is different to other cheeses but it has a niche market. There is vast production of sheep cheese in Europe and its potential here should at least be examined. Two young farmers from Cashel in Tipperary are intent on trying to get the industry up and running in this country. It merits more research to see if it is a runner economically and if the likes of Bord Bia can get markets for us for sheep milk.

I ask the Minister to suggest to Teagasc, during his discussions with it, that it carry out research into the matter. The two brothers to whom I refer have done much research into it and are convinced it is a viable project. It merits consideration.

In order to get the sheep subsidy, one has to keep a ewe for 365 days. The Minister should look at shortening that retention period significantly. It is an obstacle to people claiming for all their ewes. If the retention period was 90 days and the ewe had to be on the farm for 90 days in a calendar year, a farmer would be able to claim for her. At this time of year, when a farmer finds out that a ewe is not in lamb or that, for whatever reason, she needs to be culled, he or she will not qualify for the retention period. In most schemes, part of the calendar year suffices to claim for animals. In disadvantaged areas, there is a seven-month window in which one has to have stock. If the retention period was reduced, it would be an advantage to flock owners. I would like the Minister to give consideration to that.

The sum of €7 per ewe is no return. Hopefully, prices will start to increase. Flock owners and representatives of farming organisations have said they feel the American market could be exploited for Irish lamb. Ornua has made great strides in the United States with dairy products. Years ago, we established a premium market in Germany and are doing the same in the United States now for dairy products. The opportunity is there for Bord Bia to try to exploit that for Irish lamb. A market like that will give a premium for lamb and could contribute greatly to the profitability of the sector. I ask the Minister to use his influence with Bord Bia to put extra funding into the American market to try to establish Irish lamb with a real presence there.

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