Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

465. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will confirm that there will be no limit on the number of animals that individual farmers can apply on and get paid on under the 2015 beef data and genomics programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42091/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) is a scheme co-funded by the European Commission and as announced in the recent budget and in my Department’s RDP submission to the Commission, I am proposing a budget of over €300m to fund the scheme. As with any scheme, this will have to be managed within the available budget over time. The proposed BDGP is intended to deliver an accelerated improvement in the quality and environmental sustainability of the beef herd through the application of genomics technology. This will help farmers to maximise productivity in a sustainable way, while supporting improved quality and traceability in the national suckler herd, as set out under the Food Harvest 2020 strategy.

The programme will provide support to farmers to take samples for genotyping from selected animals in their herds and to provide vital breeding data to support the development of a national cattle breeding databank. This data will then be returned to farmers in respect of their own animals and will provide them with the tools to select higher quality and more efficient breeding replacements based on criteria such as ease of calving, high weight gain thereafter, and animals that can be finished earlier. The scheme will have a substantial environmental dividend while improving productivity, reducing input costs and improving margins for farmers.

As I set out in my budget speech, I have proposed to increase the amount of money available to all farmers within the scheme to €100 a head on the first ten animals.  Further animals in the herd will be paid €80 per head.  This budget will allow payments to be made in respect of some 565,000 animals. The increase to €100 in the payment for the first 10 animals is designed to achieve this and almost 300,000 animals will be eligible for this higher payment. I am convinced that this programme can underpin the development of the suckler herd and stimulate a permanent improvement in the climate and production efficiency of the sector.