Paul Connaughton
Question:165 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the proposals, if any, he will make at European level to offset the 40 per cent cut in the ewe premium to Irish sheep farmers between 1995 and 1997. [9399/98]
Written Answers. - Ewe Premium Scheme.
The ewe premium is designed to compensate producers for the difference between the EU basic price and the average EU market price for sheepmeat. In view of this, it is inevitable that the rate of the ewe premium will be lower in a year, such as 1997, when average market prices are high, than in a year such as 1995, when prices were at relatively low levels. In effect, the position is that when the ewe premium and average market prices are taken together, overall returns to sheep producers in 1997 were over 1 per cent greater than in 1995.