The matter I want to raise is the administration of the present calf subsidy which has come into effect and applies to animals born after 20 May 1982. I appreciate the difficulties which the Minister may have encountered along the route, but we believe that even at this late stage there ought to be some investigation into the possibility of having some amendment introduced whereby all calves born in 1982 would qualify for this £22 subsidy. It is a subsidy directly from the EEC; it is something that would yield to us, as a country and to the industry of agriculture, £37 million approximately in a full year, and for that reason it is a great pity that it only applies from 20 May 1982. May I just say that, looking at the realities of the situation, 75 per cent approximately of all our calves are born in the first four months of the year; in other words, in January, February, March and April we have 75 per cent of our calves born and in the remaining eight months we have the remaining 25 per cent. We would be losing approximately £26 or £27 million by not having the scheme applicable for the whole calendar year.
I would strongly urge the Minister to see what possibility there is of having that scheme amended to apply to all calves born in 1982. Having said that, the actual scheme itself and its administration leave a great deal to be desired. The scheme is based on the Italian calf scheme. I would suggest to the Minister that Italy and Ireland have no resemblances at all in regard to calves or payment of subsidies. Italy is a country that imports cows and calves; we are not an importer of cows or calves. Therefore, it is a great pity that our scheme in any way had to be based on or related to the Italian situation. In the Italian context they to into great detail in regard to pedigrees and the sire and the dam and so on. That would not be necessary here because all calves in Ireland are born in Ireland and their origin is more easily traced. At the present time the system that operates is that people bring their calves to a prescribed centre. This leads to a great deal of chaos even though it is at a time when calf numbers are pretty few. One wonders what that kind of system would be like in a busy period next February or March when calves are quite plentiful.
I appreciate that while the scheme is funded by Brussels its administration is a matter for our Government. For that reason we do not want to start talking about exorbitant administrative costs. In the long run it is the taxpayer who will have to pay, and I do not think any of us with a responsible approach should be advocating extravagance in regard to administration. I would suggest to the Minister something that would perhaps operate with a very limited cost and indeed be effective at the same time. Let us bear in mind that we have about 2,000,000 cows and on the basis of that we have born each year about 1.9 million calves, having regard to mortality and so on. There is a great deal of hardship on the farmers in the transportation of all these animals to any centres, not to mention the risk and hazard that exist by having to bring these animals to given centres. We immediately run the risk of disease, of pneumonia to young calves, of bacterial diseases, of TB and brucellosis and so on. Apart from the hardship and chaos that it presents, more seriously — and I would emphasise this — it represents a very high risk factor at a time when the Minister and others are very concerned about disease eradication. In a European context we have got to attend to that very diligently and continuously.
Having made these points vis-á-vis the weaknesses of the present administration of that particular calf subsidy scheme, I would suggest to the Minister that farmers should be allowed to tag their own calves but would be obliged to keep a special herd book in which all entries of their stock sales, purchases and so on would be clearly indentifiable. Of course, that herd book would be subject to inspection.
Perhaps a certain amount of tying in with the beef cow inspection scheme could also be done as well as veterinary visits, headage grant inspections and all the other inspections that are carried out on herds. If these options were there for the Minister to work in it would eliminate the need for bringing calves to any centre. If we take, for instance, the beef cow inspection side of it alone over 400,000 of our calves would be covered where these cows have to be inspected each year. The headage payments in a disadvantaged area scheme would cover a good number also. Perhaps in limited cases — one has to be flexible in these matters — inspection at centres may have to be considered. It is the view of people who are involved every day in the cattle business that there is no way this scheme can operate as it is when the real rush of cattle come on stream in the early part of next year.
I appeal to the Minister to take a very serious look at the possibility of having all calves included for 1982 and I remind him that, in fact, we are losing £27 million if all calves are not included during the current season. I would also like to emphasise that the risk aspects of disease, more than inconvenience, are things that he cannot take lightly. They are very great and are very disconcerting to many people. There is no reason why this scheme cannot be operated in a far more simple way. I hope the Minister will come up with some system that will make matters quite different from what they are at the moment. There is no point in monitoring the existing situation because it bears no relationship to the way things will be when calves come on stream in the first three or four months of 1983. I assume all calves will qualify for 1983. Perhaps the Minister will clarify this.
