Vol. 517 No. 3
46 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the way in which his Department will minimise the costs to farmers arising from the implementation of the new national beef assurance scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9684/00]
The State is already making and will continue to make a substantial contribution to the cost of the national beef assurance scheme. In the last three years, the Exchequer has invested over £16 million in the cattle identification and tracing system which is an integral part of the scheme. A further £12.3 million will be spent this year in providing ear tags and cattle passports to farmers and in maintaining and improving the computer system. The sizeable State contribution is a clear demonstration of the Government's commitment to minimising the additional costs to farmers arising from implementation of this scheme.
I do not believe that implementation of the national beef assurance scheme will impose major additional burdens on farmers. The standards that farmers will be required to meet are already largely contained in existing legislation. As the vast bulk of farmers are already complying with the relevant legislation, any additional costs to them will be minimal.
