Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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600. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on the development of merino sheep herds in Ireland; the estimated numbers of such in each of the years 2020 to 2024; what financial supports exist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5890/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Merino Sheep is not a recognised breed society in Ireland and does not operate an approved breeding programme in accordance with the EU Animal Breeding Regulations. My Department does not compile statistics on the number of herds and no direct financial supports specifically for this breed are provided by my Department.

Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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601. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on the development of Galway Sheep herds in Ireland; the estimated numbers of such in each of the years 2020 to 2024; what financial supports exist; and whether; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5891/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Each year my Department carries out a census of sheep. This census counts the number of flocks keeping sheep, the number of sheep kept and the breeds of those sheep. The number of flocks, keeping Galway sheep, returned as per the census in the years 2020 to 2023 is set out in the table below. Analysis of the 2024 sheep census is ongoing.

Flocks declaring Galway breed in census return

The Genetic Resources Grant Aid Scheme is targeted at the conservation of unique Irish genetic resources.

The Rare Breed Conservation Grant administered by my Department is available to breed societies (currently max €1,000 annually) to assist them in the preservation and in the operation of the respective rare breed breeding book.

The ACRES programme includes the Galway Sheep as a breed in the ‘Rare Breed’ options which gives applicants Tier 1 priority entry. Payment is €200 per LU/yr to a max of 20 LU.

All sheep, regardless of breed, are eligible to participate in dedicated sectoral supports provided by my Department, subject to compliance with scheme eligibility conditions, such as timely submission of sheep census returns and satisfactory completion of the required actions to qualify for payments.

The CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) co-funded Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS) will provide financial support worth €100m to farmers over five years for taking extra steps to improve the welfare of their flocks. Under the scheme, farmers can receive €12 per breeding ewe for completing flock welfare measures which exceed mandatory standards. Following an allocation of €22m in Budget 2025, a new one-year National Sheep Welfare Scheme (NSWS) will be implemented later this year which will provide sheep farmers with an additional €13 per breeding ewe for carrying out further flock welfare measures on their farms separate to those in the SIS.

I will be in a position to announce further details of the new National Sheep Welfare Scheme (NSWS) on conclusion of ongoing stakeholder consultations on its design.

Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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602. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on the development of Dexter cattle herds in Ireland; the estimated numbers of such in each of the years 2020 to 2024; what financial supports exist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5892/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Dexter Breed Society is recognised by Department and operates an approved breeding programme in accordance with the EU Animal Breeding Regulations.

I am informed by the Dexter Cattle Society of the following:

This information for 2020 was not provided by the society.

The Rare Breed Conservation Grant administered by my Department is available to breed societies (currently max €1,000 annually) to assist them in the preservation and in the operation of the respective rare breed breeding book.

The ACRES programme includes the Dexter as a breed in the ‘Rare Breed’ options which gives applicants Tier 1 priority entry. Payment is €200 per LU/yr to a max of 20 LU. Participants are only required that their breeding females produce at least 1 registered offspring before the end of the 5 year contract. A bonus of €75 is to be paid for additional progeny registered.

Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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603. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on the development of Kerry Cattle herds in Ireland; the estimated numbers of such in each of the years 2020 to 2024; what financial supports exist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5893/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Kerry Cattle is one of our oldest native breeds with cows bred predominantly for milk production. The Kerry Cattle was once the dominant breed in Ireland, with a reputation for durability in the past farming landscape while producing quality milk. It is believed to be one of the oldest breeds in Europe. However, it is now a breed considered to be seriously at risk, as farmers have moved to alternative breeds for economic reasons.

Kerry cattle are designated by my Department as a native rare breed and are the only native rare breed of cattle linked to a specific geographic location.

The Kerry herdbook was first established by the RDS in the 1880s before being taken over by The Kerry Cattle Society in 2001. This Society is a recognised breed society by my Department and is approved to maintain a breeding programme for the breed in accordance with EU Animal Breeding Regulations (Regulation (EU) 2016/1012).

In 1982, the Department first introduced a scheme of payments for maintaining purebred Kerry cattle. The reasons for its introduction were as follows:

• The conservation of genetic resources with the breed which is critically endangered
• The cultural cost to Society of the breed becoming extinct.
• The overall cost of the programme to save the breed, in the context of cultural and the preservation of genetic resources, was considered effective use of exchequer funds.

• The ACRES programme includes the Kerry Cow as a breed in the ‘Rare Breed’ options which gives applicants Tier 1 priority entry. Payment is €200 per LU/yr to a max of 20 LU. Participants are only required that their breeding females produce at least 1 registered offspring before the end of the 5 year contract. A bonus of €75 is to be paid for additional progeny registered.
• The Rare Breed Conservation Grant is available to breed societies (currently max €1,000 annually) to assist them in the preservation and in the operation of the respective rare breed breeding book.

Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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604. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on the development of goat herds in Ireland; the estimated numbers of such in each of the years 2020 to 2024; what financial supports exist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5894/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Each year my Department carries out a census of goats. This Census counts the number of herds keeping goats and the number of goats kept. The number of goats returned as per the census in the years 2020 to 2023 is set out in the table below. Analysis of the 2024 goat census is ongoing.

Goat herds who made a census return

The Rare Breed Conservation Grant, administered by my Department, is available to breed societies (currently max €1,000 annually) to assist them in the preservation and in the operation of the respective rare breed breeding book.

The ACRES programme includes the Old Irish Goat as a breed in the ‘Rare Breed’ options which gives applicants Tier 1 priority entry. Payment is €200 per LU/yr to a max of 20 LU.

Under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS), there are grants available for a range of facilities for goat herds, including housing, handling facilities, waste storage and milking equipment. Further details are available at: www.gov.ie/en/service/targeted-agriculture-modernisation-schemes/.