Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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290. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the degree to which the national bovine herd including the dairy sector has fluctuated over the past five years and the prospects for its future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5160/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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In response to the Deputies question I would like to draw his attention to the following table which provides details of the national bovine herd in terms of the beef herd and the dairy herd over the last five years. Please note that the figure for cows include any female that has calved at least once in her lifetime and will be made up of animals from females less than 24 months old and females greater than 24 months old. Furthermore animals are classed as beef or dairy on the basis of breed of sire.

With regards to the future prospects of the national herd, it is clear from analysis undertaken by a number of bodies including Teagasc, Bord Bia and my Department that there will be a number of challenges specific to the beef sector in 2017.

One of the key elements in coping with these challenges is ensuring that there is a market for Irish beef. There is a strong demand for meat globally including beef, and  figures from the European Commission's most recent Short Term Outlook for meat markets show a projected growth of per capita beef consumption of 2.1% for 2016. Whilst we exported approximately 97% of our beef exports in 2016 to EU (including the UK), I am very conscious of the importance of growing international markets as a valuable outlet for any increased Irish beef production. Indeed this is a crucial component of the Food Wise 2025 strategy. Very significant progress has been made in this context in recent years and my Department is currently in the process of attempting to secure beef access to a range of Third Countries including China, South Korea, Ukraine, Thailand and Vietnam. This builds on the opening of some major markets in the last two years including the US, Canada and Japan. This is a vital means of providing Ireland’s beef sector with as many commercial opportunities as possible for Irish beef in addition to our existing European markets.

I am also very conscious of the vital role that live exports play in providing an alternative market outlet for Irish farmers. The  opening of the Turkish market for live cattle exports has seen over 19,500 exported in 2016, a number I am hopeful will grow in 2017. I also note that exports of live cattle to Libya have recommenced which is a positive and welcome development. My Department is also currently actively examining the possibilities of bilateral health certificates for the export of cattle to Kazakhstan, Montenegro and for breeding cattle to Morocco. I remain actively committed to ensuring that Irish beef producers have the option of exporting to as many markets as possible.

I will also be launching in 2017 a scheme for the funding of facilitators for Producer Organisations in the beef sector. This is a vital step in ensuring the primary beef producers who wish to come together to form a Producer Organisation can engage collectively with processors on the negotiation of the sale of finished cattle for slaughter.

The recently released Bord Bia Export performance review indicates that a rise of 5% in Irish milk output and a recovery in international demand as the year progressed combined to leave the value of Irish dairy and ingredient exports for 2016 around 2% higher than 2015 at €3.38 billion. This is a strong performance given the extremely difficult background context that prevailed.

In general the outlook for the dairy sector must remain cautiously optimistic, with the resolve to engage in measures to mitigate volatility should it re-emerge.

Beef

Dairy