Vol. 542 No. 5
143 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if he will make a statement on the progress to date of the national sheep identification scheme which came into operation on 21 June 2001. [25113/01]
I announced to the House in March of this year my intention to introduce a comprehensive system of identification and traceability for the national sheep flock. The first elements of the new system were in place within two months, with flockowners able to order and receive tags from approved suppliers. The national sheep identification system, NSIS, as a whole went "live" on 21 June. This means that, for the first time, Ireland has full traceability of all sheep, on an individual animal basis. Every sheep which moves from a holding within the State or which is imported into the State and every sheep carcass processed in any of our processing plants is now fully and individually identified. All sheep remaining on holdings are required to be individually tagged by 15 December next. I attach great importance to this development which is of significant benefit to the sheep sector, most notably in terms of disease control, marketing and in the implementation of the relevant recommendations of the sheepmeat forum. Many flockowners are already beginning to appreciate the benefits of individual tagging for flock management purposes also.
My Department is monitoring the implementation of NSIS on an ongoing basis and I am pleased to report that the system is working well and that sheep presented in marts and factories are properly tagged and documented. I look forward to full compliance by flockowners with the requirement that all sheep remaining on holdings are tagged no later than 15 December next.
