Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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27. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers with breeding ewes who have made applications for the sheep welfare scheme; if his Department has plans to minimise the level of bureaucracy attached to the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4842/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The new Sheep Welfare Scheme is part of Ireland's Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 and provides for funding of €25 million per annum for eligible sheep farmers to undertake actions which contribute to the welfare of the national flock.  The scheme follows on from a commitment contained in the Programme for Partnership Government, and reflects the commitment of this Government to the sheep sector in Ireland.

The scheme provides support of €10 per ewe to farmers with breeding ewes flocks.  Farmers are required to undertake two actions in each year of the scheme, with actions to be chosen from a menu of actions linked to lowland and hill type flocks.

To date, over 20,000 farmers have applied for the Scheme and I have recently extended the deadline for applications until the end of this week in order to facilitate the maximum number of applications.  In rolling out the Scheme, I have been conscious of the need to ensure that application for and participation in the Scheme does not impose an undue level of administration on farmers.  To this end, the application process has been simplified whereby farmers simply choose their actions from a menu and return the application form to the Department and record their actions in a Scheme Record Book.  Officials in my Department have also delivered a series of ten information sessions for farmers around the country with the aim of explaining the aims, benefits and requirements of the Scheme.  I am glad to say that these information sessions were very well attended in all the locations.

I would encourage any sheep farmers who have not yet applied to do so before the deadline of Friday the 3rd of February.