Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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533. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the work done by his Department and the agencies operating under the aegis of his Department, particularly An Bord Bia, to find new markets for light hill lambs next Autumn; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22537/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The market performance of the sheep sector, in common with other agricultural sectors, is a function of supply and demand.

I am aware that market conditions for light lamb were particularly challenging last year.

There are two main outlets for light lambs (i) Store lamb trade and (ii) Exports to Mediterranean countries. The store lamb trade failed to take off in Autumn 2012, largely driven by a poor pasture conditions (limited grass, forage) and lack of confidence on the part of store lamb finishers who were reluctant to buy expensive feed. Demand within the traditional markets for light lamb (Portugal and indirectly Spain) has also been poor over the last two years due to the economic downturn in these regions. Indeed total imports of sheep meat into Portugal and Spain have fallen by 26% and 42% respectively.

Bearing in mind the difficulties in recent times with these two outlets, the industry and Bord Bia are exploring additional new markets for light lambs for 2013. These markets include France and the UK, which are the core export markets for Irish lamb, and Sweden, Belgium and Germany, which have been delivering positive growth over the last 2-3 years. However it must be recognised that light lambs (<13kg) are generally not favoured by consumers in these regions and it is likely that lambs will need to be finished up to a weight of 17kg+. I understand that Bord Bia has been discussing with the industry on how this could best be done, for example overwinter the lambs and dispose of them in the following Spring.

Research can also be used to assist light lamb producers to bring the carcass to an acceptable weight specification. The Teagasc BETTER farm programme has a number of hill farms around the country. The aim of this programme is to establish focal points for the on-farm implementation, development and evaluation of technology that is relevant to hill sheep farmers. Close collaboration between Teagasc Researchers & Advisers with these farms aims to help improve profitability of hill sheep production.

The recently launched Sheep Technology Adoption Programme (STAP) contains a measure designed to help improve the weight, quality and thus price of hill lambs.

My Department is providing significant funding to Sheep Ireland to help deliver on the significant profit potential that breed improvement can deliver. A number of hill flocks are involved in data recording initiatives which will help identify the most profitable animals to breed from.

All of these initiatives should help hill farmers in dealing with the vagaries of the market and in matching specification with market requirements.