Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 13: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the strength of the bovine herd; the extent to which the numbers have increased or decreased in the past 10 years on a yearly basis; if the current number is adequate to meet the requirements of the beef and dairy industry without curtailment of either; if herd reduction is deemed to be a wise tactic in the context of the World Trade Organisation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9134/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Over the last ten years, the National Bovine Herd has gone from 6.6m animals in 1996 down to 6.2m animals in 2005 having peaked at 6.9m in 1998. The number of dairy cows has decreased from 1.2m to 1.1m, but beef cows during the corresponding period have remained relatively stable at 1.1m.

Beef Sector

Consistent with the Agri-Vision 2015 Action Plan and to support the beef sector in responding to the very real challenges it faces on an on-going basis I announced, late last year, two new initiatives that will assist the beef sector in cementing the achievements already made and to better equip it to face the ongoing challenges of a competitive marketplace. These complement and underpin the existing Quality Assurance Schemes.

Proposals for the introduction of an Animal Welfare, Recording and Breeding Scheme for Suckler Herds were submitted to the European Commission in December 2006. The scheme, which is subject to EU approval, is designed to encourage suckler farmers to record data for animal welfare and breed improvement purposes in order to assist both quality and productivity. A budget of €250 million is being provided over the duration of the scheme.

A Capital Investment Support Scheme for the beef and sheepmeat primary processing sectors was also announced in November 2006. The rationale for this scheme is to assist the industry in facing the challenges of the future, through increasing competitiveness and efficiency. Some €50 million has been committed for this package, and it is envisaged that this will generate further investment, bringing the value of the overall plan to some €120 million. The aid scheme, funded by the Department, will be managed by Enterprise Ireland, the state agency responsible for implementing such state aid packages.

I believe these measures, combined with our high levels of food safety standards, will support the industry in positioning itself to face the challenges of the marketplace.

Dairy Sector

Ireland's milk production is limited by the milk quota regime, which was introduced in the early 1980s. During the past 10 years, milk production has remained stable at the national reference level. Improved breeding and husbandry have resulted in increased milk yields in Irish dairy cows and consequently the number of animals in the dairy herd has reduced while the volume of milk produced has remained constant at national level.

Despite the challenges brought about by the implementation of the 2003 Luxembourg Agreement to reform the CAP, the Irish Dairy Sector performed well in 2006 with exports of €2.08bn. Having regard to the new CAP framework where market forces have a huge influence on the price paid for milk and milk products I launched a €300 million capital investment package, including €100 million of Government grant assistance, in September 2006. One of the key aims of this package is to allow Irish dairy processors generate greater efficiencies to better support the price paid to producers. The fund has been oversubscribed with projects from all the major dairy companies. The commercial and technical evaluation of applications has begun and I hope to announce the grant awards in May of this year.

WTO

The most recent reform of the Common Agricultural Policy introduced the concept of decoupling and means that the majority of subsidies are now paid independently of production. This gives EU and Irish farmers freedom to farm and to produce what the market wants. In that context, future variations in the numbers in the national bovine herd will be informed by individual producer decisions arising from market demands and there is no direct connection between this and developments in the WTO negotiations. However, what is important is to ensure that farmers are allowed a reasonable degree of policy stability so that they can develop their operations and plan for the future in a rational manner. In that connection, in the ongoing WTO negotiations, I am determined to ensure that the internal support system of direct payments applied under the reformed CAP is continued and that EU production is adequately protected from low-priced imports.