Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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716. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the tagging requirements of sheep; the details of the tracking system or central register for identification; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56887/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The rules governing the identification of sheep are determined by Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/429, supplemented by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2035 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/963. These rules are implemented in Ireland via the National Sheep Identification System (NSIS).

All sheep must be identified electronically by nine months of age, or on leaving the holding of their birth, whichever is the earlier date.

Lambs moving directly to slaughter from their holding of origin while aged under 12 months may be identified with a single electronic tag, inserted in the animal's right ear.

All other sheep must be identified with a full electronic tag set consisting of an electronic tag in the right ear and a corresponding conventional tag in the left ear. An electronic bolus set comprising an electronic bolus implanted into the stomach of the sheep and a matching conventional tag is also permitted.

All sheep tags (and boluses) must display an individual animal identification number encompassing the unique sheep designator assigned by the Department to the holding on which an individual sheep is born. Sheep tags can only be purchased by registered sheep keepers and can only be sourced from tag suppliers approved by the Department. The Department's systems allocate and record the details of all sheep tags (and boluses) ordered.

As sheep are not identified at birth, the Department does not maintain a central identification register for sheep.

However, in accordance with EU legislative requirements, all sheep movements are recorded on a batch basis on the Department's central Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system. All sheep movements must be accompanied by a uniquely numbered dispatch document listing the individual tag numbers of all sheep in the batch.

Both parties to a movement must retain a copy of the associated dispatch document. In addition, sheep keepers are legislatively required to record the details of all movements into and out of their holding on a flock register. The register must further record the number of sheep notified to my Department in the context of the annual sheep census, the submission of which is also a legal requirement.

Flock registers must be kept up-to-date at all times and must be immediately presented to an authorised officer when requested for inspection purposes.

Sheep slaughter plants which are approved by my Department, together with a significant number of marts, have also been authorised by my Department to operate as Central Points of Recording (CPRs). CPRs scan all sheep moving to those locations and notify the individual identification numbers of all sheep moved to these premises to my Department where the data is retained.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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717. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to reintroduce the sheep electronic identification or EID tag subsidy scheme or similar schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56888/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Sheep EID Tag Subsidy Scheme was introduced as a once-off scheme in 2018, in conjunction with the decision to extend electronic identification to all sheep from 1st June 2019.

The Scheme provided a payment of up to a maximum of €100 per eligible keeper in respect of the first electronic sheep tag order completed between 1st October 2018 and 30th September 2019. Payments were based on the number of electronic tags included in the first eligible order, with €1 paid in respect of each electronic tag ordered. I currently have no plans to re-introduce this scheme for sheep.

I have recently announced the introduction of a similar scheme to coincide with a move to mandatory electronic identification of cattle from January 2022 onwards. This financial support will assist farmers in transitioning to this new electronic identification system.

The intention is that the cattle EID tag scheme will operate over three years (2022 to 2024 inclusive) with the first payments scheduled to take place in Quarter 4 2022 amounting to €2.25 million. Payments in 2022 will be calculated on the number of new EID tag sets purchased from 1st January 2022 at a rate of €1 per new EID tag set.

There is a maximum payment of €100 per farmer over the life of the scheme and, similar to the Sheep EID Tag Subsidy Scheme, no application process will be required as all required information is available on my Department's systems.

The cattle scheme is proportionately weighted in favour of smaller producers. Farmers can only order annually the number of new tag sets required commensurate to the number of breeding females in the herd.

Mandatory bovine EID will be implemented in two stages. From 1^stJanuary 2022, all approved bovine tag suppliers will be required to supply an EID tag with all new tag orders. Each new tag set will include one EID tag and one tissue tag. From 1^stJuly 2022, it shall be a legal requirement on herd keepers to officially identify all new-born calves with a tag set containing an EID tag.

EID tags will be white in colour. The colour of conventional and tissue tags will remain yellow.

Mandatory bovine EID will deliver a substantial improvement in the bovine identification system for farmers, livestock marts, slaughter plants, export assembly centres and veterinarians. This initiative aligns with and supports the Food Vision 2030 objective that Ireland will become a world leader in Sustainable Food Systems, enhancing consumer trust in our food systems.

Further, it will lead to a safer working environment for all stakeholders with less reliance on manual checking of bovine tag numbers.