Bernard J. Durkan
Question:122 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of animals in the potential beef herd; the number ten years ago; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13817/99]
Written Answers. - National Cattle Herd.
Statistics on the total number of animals in the national cattle herd are collected by the Central Statistics Office in June and December of each year. The estimates for June 1998 and June 1988 are as follows: June 1998, 7,797,100 cattle; June 1988, 6,604,100 cattle.
The increase in the cattle population is mainly due to an increase in the beef suckler cow herd which has increased by approximately 700,000 head over the ten years period from 480,000 in 1988 to 1.220 million in 1998.
The establishment of the national suckler cow quota with individual rights under the 1992 CAP reform agreement provided the basis for the current suckler cow herd. This quota has been preserved intact under the Agenda 2000 agreement which I successfully negotiated this year. The industry now has a very stable production base on which it can build to produce top quality beef for export markets, with particular emphasis on EU markets.