Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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41. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if electronic tagging will be introduced for all lambs as part of the proposed new sheep scheme. [21287/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The new Programme for Government commits to the introduction of a scheme for sheep farmers under the Rural Development Programme with a budget of €25 million to be provided in Budget 2017. Discussions have commenced with the European Commission and a formal submission will be made shortly. Any such scheme must comply with the Rural Development Regulation. This scheme will be additional to the existing supports available to sheep farmers under the BPS, GLAS, ANC and TAMS, will make a vital contribution to ensuring the continuing viability of the sheep sector in Ireland.

My officials are currently working on the details of the scheme, taking into account consultations with the farm organisations and the discussions with the European Commission. The Scheme is being developed as an animal welfare scheme and as such will utilise Article 33 of the Rural Development Regulation; all actions or undertakings will have to show a clear connection to improving animal welfare conditions for those flocks within the scheme.

EU rules relating to the identification of sheep are laid down in Commission Regulation 21 of 2004, which requires the electronic identification of all sheep by 9 months of age at the latest (but before leaving the holding of birth) with a conventional tag and an EID tag/bolus. Article 4(3) of the Regulation provides for a derogation whereby Member States may chose to allow the identification of lambs slaughtered before the age of 12 months by way of a single conventional tag. This ‘slaughter derogation’ was availed of by my Department and has been incorporated into the current National Sheep Identification System (NSIS) which has now been in place for over 4 years. 

My Department is currently reviewing the NSIS with a view to simplifying and improving the current system and in this context there are a number of factors to be considered. The benefits of extending EID include improved traceability and significant labour savings for farmers in terms of reduced bureaucracy and record-keeping. I am also mindful that full EID is also in use in Northern Ireland, Britain and France and that not introducing it here could potentially undermine efforts to access third country markets. On the other hand the extension of EID would involve some additional costs for farmers, which need to be borne in mind. These discussions are separate to the development of the scheme.