The programme is currently in its third and final year. On average, around 4,000 farmers have participated in the programme in each year and total funding of more than €6.5 million was provided in 2013 and 2014. Under the Rural Development Programme 2014-20, the Minister has made provision for further improving efficiency and profitability in sheep production through the knowledge transfer groups measure. The experience in the sheep technology adaption programme has informed the development of this measure. In addition to profitability, the emphasis will be on the key issues of business skills, environmental sustainability and herd health, with increased interaction between individual farmers and facilitators in order to customise information exchange. Approximately 300 potential facilitators recently expressed interest in running knowledge transfer groups for the sheep sector.

Various other schemes in RDP are also of direct relevance to the sheep sector. For example, the green low carbon agri-environment scheme will benefit sheep farmers and they will continue to be significant beneficiaries from the areas of natural constraints scheme. A series of capital investment schemes are being introduced under the TAMS II scheme, several of which will provide for sheep farmers. It must also be remembered that the sheep grassland scheme, which invested over €65 million in Irish sheep farms during its lifetime, has now been included in the direct payment of each sheep farmer under revised CAP arrangements.

Last week a new ten year strategy for the agri-food sector, Food Wise 2025, was launched with the key theme of local roots, global reach. The agri-food sector is a sector unlike any other given its strategic importance to the Irish economy, its roots in local communities throughout the country and its rapidly increasing global reach. Food Wise 2025 sets out a comprehensive plan for the development of Ireland's agri-food sector over the next decade. It predicts that over the next decade Ireland can increase the value of agri-food exports by 85% to €19 billion, increase value added to the sector by 70% to €13 billion and increase the value of primary production by 65% to €10 billion. This should deliver a further 23,000 jobs in the agri-food sector by 2025. With over 350 recommendations, Food Wise 2025 is very detailed but that detail is vital. Many of these recommendations relate to the sheep sector.

The report acknowledges the importance of the sheep sector and notes that growth in the sector will come from improved technical efficiencies, as well as growth opportunities from an increase in consumer demand and export market opportunities. Important actions identified for the sector include: genetic improvement of the sheep herd with a focus on ewe fertility and breeding resilience and resistance to diseases; working collaboratively with processors, Bord Bia, Teagasc and Sheep Ireland to modify the seasonal nature of our sheepmeat supply and maintaining presence; increasing farmer participation in the beef and lamb quality assurance scheme to 90% in terms of proportion of output by 2025; adding value to exports by further moving up the value chain from exporting entire carcasses to pre-packaged boneless cuts through wider market access; increasing sheep farmer participation in knowledge transfer programmes; and developing a carbon navigator tool for sheep producers. The Minister will put in place a robust implementation process to monitor progress and deliver on the ambitious projections in the report.

My Department monitors average sheep prices and sheep slaughtering figures on a weekly basis because the two are clearly interlinked. A national average sheep price is also submitted to the European Commission once a week. While the recent movement on prices has been disappointing, it is not out of line with the trend in other countries. I am satisfied that it does not point to a structural difficulty within the overall sheepmeat sector but rather reflects the fluctuations which can occur at this time of year. The latest available figures show that after a strong first quarter in 2015, when the average Irish price was approximately 11% up on the same period in 2014, prices have fallen back. This change in price in recent weeks is likely due to a combination of factors. Supplies are in full flow at present due to seasonal factors. At the same time, poor market conditions are believed to be driving down average prices as measured on a weekly basis. While this recent dip in prices is disappointing, it remains the case that at the end of June, the average year to date price was running at approximately 4% ahead of the same period last year. Just this week, I understand that prices have started to rise again and that demand for sheep and lamb by factories is rising.