Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A total of 56% of farmers, which is more than half, have fewer than seven suckler cows. This is 44,292 farmers. As the Minister has said, 3,513 farmers applied for the scheme. This is 8%. The scheme is failing totally to improve the herds of the smaller farmers. Less than 10% of that cohort of farmers have applied. They are not doing anything because a deluxe requirement is required even though very few of those would be finishers.

When a herd goes over 21 cows, there is 60% participation. We must look at the figures and ask why it is 60% in that case and 8% for the others. For many of our small farmers, on condition that they do not finish the cattle or do not have them for the last 90 days, why is the Bord Bia requirement there? I do not refer to the quality assurance requirement, which does not really relate to them because they do not bring the calves to that maturity. Why is the Bord Bia requirement a condition of the scheme? It seems to be putting them off and the Minister is not achieving his objective, which is to get farmers to farm to a high standard. Instead, they are just ignoring the Minister and walking away. From my own experience, very few farmers in the Connemara region of my constituency are in the scheme. Of course, those in the good land region around the Neale and Cross in Mayo and east of the Corrib River are in the scheme, but the small farmers are just walking away. Even though they might take part in the agri-climate rural environmental scheme, ACRES and in other schemes, they are walking away on this one.

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