den Aire Talmhaíochta an nglacfaidh sé bearta chun feabhas a chur ar tháirgeadh caorach agus uain sléibhe i gConamara, Contae na Gaillimhe.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Táirgeadh Caorach agus Uain Sléibhe.
2. D'fhiafraigh
Tugann an Scéim Iocaíochta Caorach agus iocaiochtaí ar tháirgiú uascáin tacaíocht do soláthair caorach i gConamara agus i gceantair eile míbhuntáisteacha. Tá tacaíocht do tháirgiú uan don mhargadh ar fáil ó Chóras Cabhartha Caoireoil an Chomhmhargaidh (EC) chomh maith le spreagadh tairgíochta tré scéimeanna náisiúnta agus freisin feabhsú ar chumas síolrú agus tairgíochta uascáin.
Tugann an toradh breisitheach bun láidir chun forbairt ar an tionscal. Mar sin fhéin, is tré dúthracht an táirgtheora a dhéanfar leis iomlán ar an fhorbairt seo — sé sin, caoireoil a thairgiú a bhéidh sásúil do riachtanaisí na mhargaidh.
With apologies for my Irish, for the benefit of the House I shall repeat the answer in English.
Support for sheep production in Connemara and other disadvantaged areas is provided by the sheep headage payments scheme and the ewe premium payments. Market supports for lamb production is provided by the EC sheepmeat regime. In addition, production is encouraged through national schemes aimed at improving breeding quality ewe productivity. The cumulative effect provides a sound basis for the future development of the industry. However, the full potential of the industry can only be realised if producers concentrate on producing lamb which meets the quality requirements of the market.
Ba mhaith liom tréaslú leis an Aire as ucht an iarracht a rinne sé leis an Ghaeilge. I should like to compliment the Minister. We all have problems with Gaeilge. It is seldom we have to use the earphones but it is not possible to listen on this set for a translation and that is a pity. Is the Minister aware of the very serious plight of sheep farmers in Connemara because of the sheep mortality rate in the past six months? Will he give an indication of the reports from his officials who have carried out inspections for ewe subsidies, headage payments and so on? It appears to me they have gone out of their way to try to establish the facts regarding the losses suffered. Secondly, will he indicate if there is any possibility that any compensation can be made to hill farmers who have lost 50 ewes and sometimes more than 100 ewes — often more than half their flock — because of the bad weather last winter?
I appeal to Deputies to keep their questions short so that we can make progress.
I regret I have no figures with regard to losses. The question relates to improvement in the production of sheep. I do not have the information but I am sure it can be made available to the Deputy. The Department have premium rams for sheep farmers in disadvantaged areas. Getting sheep farmers involved in producer groups through ACOT was a very worthwhile development. Basically this is a ewe breeding programme which involves Black Face Mountain and very good Cheviots crossed with Leicester rams which are producing very prolific cross bred ewes. Between 14 and 20 flock owners are involved in the co-operative. In spite of losses, the general increase in sheep production in the west is coming near the maximum, around 9 per cent.
I accept what the Minister says about the progress being made in this area, which is welcome, but there is not much point in making progress in regard to breeding groups where most hill sheep farmers find their livelihood threatened. Would the Minister of State with responsibility for western development give an indication if there is any way these people could be assisted?
There are the ewe premiums and headage payments, which are quite liberal. In the west for the first 150 ewes there is £9.50 per ewe and for the next 50 ewes there is £6.50, and currently the ewe premium is running at £16.74.
What about the man who lost half his flock? He also loses the headage payment and the subsidy.
I know, but many other people lost crops as well.