Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 January 2013
533. Deputy Paul J. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason payment did not issue to a person (details supplied) in County Galway in relation to the beef technology scheme; if the delay related to BVD samples in view of the fact that the person in question believed that it was compulsory in the second year but not in the first to submit such samples; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2491/13]
View answerThe Beef Technology Adoption Programme (BTAP) was introduced in 2012 to improve the technical and financial performance of producers. Its objective is to improve the productivity and profitability of participants’ beef enterprises by focusing on five areas: financial management, grassland management, herd health, animal breeding/welfare and producing animals to market specifications. Under the BTAP, participants engage in peer-to-peer learning by joining discussion groups which are facilitated by professional agricultural advisors drawn from Teagasc and the private sector.
Payments to producers in 2012, which were limited to a maximum of €1,000 per participant and subject to EU state aid rules, were contingent on compliance with Programme requirements, i.e. attendance at a prescribed number of discussion group meetings or approved national events plus completion of two technology adoption tasks from a menu of eight designed to enhance on-farm efficiency. The broad range of available task options allowed participants to choose those best suited to the business needs and particular characteristics of their beef enterprises.
I understand that the individual concerned did not obtain a payment because he failed to satisfactorily complete one of two selected tasks which related to the completion of a herd health plan in consultation with a veterinary surgeon. Participants who chose that task were required to join the voluntary Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) eradication programme, a condition of which was that herd owners had to submit tissue samples from all calves born on their holdings in 2012 to one of a number of designated laboratories. Task completion was verified by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) which maintains a database of laboratory results on behalf of Animal Health Ireland.
The rationale for this approach is that the BTAP thus recognised and rewarded producers who tested their herds during the initial voluntary phase of a national programme to eradicate a highly contagious and costly cattle disease. Information received from ICBF indicated that the herd owner in question did not sample any animals born in 2012. Given that it is now mandatory for herd owners to take a tissue tag sample from all calves born after 1 January 2013, a producer should not entertain a legitimate expectation of receiving a BTAP payment for complying with a statutory requirement.
It is the responsibility of participants and their facilitators to familiarise themselves with the Programme Terms and Conditions and with the consequences for breaches of the rules. In applying for the BTAP, farmers undertook to comply with the Terms and Conditions of the Programme and accepted that failure to abide by the rules could result in a loss of payment. It was determined following appeal that the individual concerned failed to fully comply with the BTAP Terms and Conditions and, accordingly, no Programme payment was possible in this case. However, subject to satisfying eligibility criteria, the producer concerned is free to participate in year two of the Programme, the opening of which I announced last week.
