Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 435: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will introduce a support mechanism for sheep farmers in view of the declining number of breeding ewes in the flocks in the country and the numbers of farmers exiting sheep farming; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32499/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The sheep sector is an important part of the overall agri-food sector and its future depends on its ability to meet the needs of the market. The downward trend is production and an ageing consumer profile are major factors which the industry felt should be examined in order to develop a way forward. With this in mind the industry established the Sheep Industry Development Strategy Group which included representatives from all interested parties including the relevant state bodies and my Department. The Group's report set out a series of recommendations covering areas such as production, research, advice, processing and marketing.

I established an implementation Group to see how the recommendations could best be implemented and it reported to me last April. The objective is to facilitate the development of a more profitable sheep sector in Ireland covering the lamb production, lamb processing and marketing sectors of the industry. Most of the recommendations in the Strategy report fall to be implemented by the industry itself and it is too early at this stage to assess their impact. The recommendations are supported by my Department through assistance for breeding and management, processing facilities, mechanical grading and quality assurance.

In addition, and in line with the Group's report, sheep farmers are major beneficiaries of various schemes being operated by my Department. Under REPS 4, a new supplementary measure aimed at sheep farmers has been introduced. A budget of €28m a year has been allocated to fund the proposed new supplementary measure at an overall cost of over €170m for the period to 2013.

In addition to the measures being taken at producer and processor level, Bord Bia's marketing and promotional efforts will be critical. Bord Bia will continue to organize strategic marketing campaigns in selected European markets. The downward trend in lamb consumption within the EU presents a real challenge. To address this challenge, Bord Bia is collaborating with its French and British counterparts to develop a 3 year generic lamb promotion on the French market to promote lamb to younger consumers. This campaign, which amounts to a major new initiative on the European Lamb market, is due to commence early in 2008.

Following the decoupling of market supports and the introduction of the Single Farm Payment, it is not possible to provide direct support for production. I believe however that, with the cooperation of all stakeholders and in line with the approach set out above, the sheep sector can continue to make an extremely valuable contribution to the agri-food sector and to the economy as a whole.