Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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1373. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated cost of an enhanced sheep welfare scheme that would include additional environmental and climate change measures resulting in an increased payment of €5 per ewe in circumstances in which such actions were undertaken. [38489/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Sheep Welfare Scheme was introduced under the Rural Development Program to contribute to the continued development of animal and health welfare in the sheep sector.  The current Sheep Welfare Scheme is based on a menu of actions for farmers where a farmer picks two actions according to their flock and they can receive payment of €10 per breeding ewe.

To introduce new actions and increase payments by €5 per ewe would thus increase the annual cost of the scheme by 50%.  Given the number of eligible ewes currently in the scheme, the estimated yearly cost of a scheme with such new measures would be €30 million.

Under the Rural Development Programme payments across schemes are made in recognition of income foregone and costs incurred in undertaking the agreed actions and the payments are agreed with the EU Commission on the basis of costings on this basis. Thus, any such new actions and costs would require the agreement of the EU Commission via the formal RDP amendment process.