Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider expanding the subsidy for the collection and destruction of Bovine to all ages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15626/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The disposal of dead farm animals is subject to EU Regulations, notably Regulation (EC) No 1069 of 2009. The basic legal requirement is that animals, which die on farms, must generally be disposed of through approved rendering plants.

My Department provided substantial funding towards the collection and destruction of all fallen bovines for a number of years until 2009. This was justified as part of Ireland’s response to the BSE crisis and as a means of protecting our valuable beef industry. In view of budgetary constraints and the greatly reduced incidence of BSE, the revised TSE Subsidy Scheme which was introduced in April 2009 was designed to subsidise the cost of collection and rendering only of fallen bovines which need to be BSE tested as required by EU regulations.

The current subsidy level for the collection of bovines over 48 months of age, for sampling, as required under the ongoing national BSE surveillance programme, is €30 (excluding VAT) for collection and €58 (excluding VAT) for rendering, per animal. Expenditure during 2012 was €5.778m and the budget for 2013 is €5.89m. It is not considered appropriate or necessary at this point to reintroduce funding for the collection and rendering of fallen bovines which do not require to be BSE tested.