Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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602. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the detail of the proposed necessity for farmers to provide electronic tagging of cattle in order to access certain agricultural schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19552/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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At present herd keepers can source electronic identification tags for cattle voluntarily from the approved tag supplier. EU Regulation No 653/2014 of the Council and the European Parliament provides for the introduction of electronic bovine identification on a voluntary basis. This legislation requires Member States to have facilities in place to provide for the use of electronic identifiers (electronic tags or electronic bolus) as an official means of identification with effect from 18 July 2019. There is no requirement for cattle to be identified electronically in order to access agricultural schemes.