Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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187. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department had to notify the EU, or seek approval for the change in the terms and conditions of the BTAP 2012 scheme in view of the fact that the programme is subject to EU state aid rules; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49938/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Beef Technology Adoption Programme (BTAP) was introduced in 2012 to improve the technical and financial performance of producers. Its objective is to improve the productivity and profitability of participants’ beef enterprises by focusing on five areas: financial management, grassland management, herd health, animal breeding/welfare and producing animals to market specifications. Under the BTAP, participants engage in peer-to-peer learning by joining discussion groups which are facilitated by professional agricultural advisors drawn from Teagasc and the private sector.

The Terms and Conditions and programme for BTAP 2012 were devised following wide ranging consultation with stakeholders amongst whom were Teagasc, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), Meat Industry Ireland (MII), Veterinary Ireland, and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

BTAP payments must comply with EU rules regarding the cumulative amount of state aid granted for primary agricultural production over any three-year period. Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1535/2007 provides that such aid is restricted to a maximum of €7,500 per claimant over any period of three years.

While the BTAP is funded from Exchequer funds it is subject to the De Minimis part of EU State aid rules. However, these do not require my Department to submit the BTAP Terms and Conditions for approval by the EU Commission.

My Department carried out a review of the Programme and made some changes based on experience from its first year of operation in 2012. Changes in the 2013 BTAP included further clarification of the role and responsibilities of the facilitator, clarification of the position for farmers who had both cattle and sheep and how they would be treated for payments purposes if they are participating in both the BTAP and the new Sheep Technology Adoption Programme (STAP). In addition, two new tasks relating to were the added to the menu of Programme options available to participants. These were (i) pregnancy scanning of breeding cows and heifers and recording the information obtained on an ICBF database and (ii) the completion of Bord Bia’s Carbon Navigator / Footprint Calculator together with a laboratory analysis of at least two silage samples.