Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2017
1311. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will amend the eligibility terms of the sheep welfare scheme to make it more accessible for persons (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37464/17]
View answerThe Sheep Welfare Scheme was launched in December 2016 with the aim of contributing to the continued development in animal health and welfare in the sheep sector. The scheme requires farmers to go beyond the relevant mandatory standards to enhance the standards of animal welfare in the Irish Sheep flock.
The scheme provides targeted support to those areas of animal welfare identified as making a meaningful positive contribution to sheep welfare, having regard to the systems of production in Ireland and the environment in which Irish sheep production is carried out.
To be eligible for participation in the Sheep Welfare Scheme, applicants must
- have been in possession of an active DAFM herd number, or have applied for same before the closing date of the scheme and keep breeding ewes;
- have submitted Sheep Census returns to the Department in respect of 2014 and 2015 by 31st October 2016;
- have submitted a correctly completed return to the Department in respect of the 2016 Sheep Census by 31st January 2017; and
- submit a BPS application for each year of scheme participation, and comply with the requirement to be an active farmer as per Article 9 of EU Regulation 1307/2013.
The terms and conditions of the scheme also provided for the provision of new entrants into the scheme. New entrants under the scheme are defined within the terms and conditions of the scheme as being an applicant who has applied for a new herd number from 1st January 2016 and before the closing date of the scheme in 2017, or an applicant with an existing herd number who has not held or traded in sheep for a two year period up to 31st October preceding the scheme year.
An applicant’s eligible number of breeding ewes is the average number of breeding ewes declared on their 2014 and 2015 Sheep Census returns. Applicants must also declare breeding ewes on the 2016 Sheep Census return. The application of a reference number based on ewes held in previous years was a prerequisite for approval of the scheme by the EU Commission.
This number will form a Reference Number for payment for the duration of the Scheme. This number does not increase over the course of the scheme, except in the case of certain GLAS participants where participants are scheduled to increase their number of breeding ewes in line with their GLAS obligations.
In the case of new entrants the reference number will be based on the number of breeding ewes returned on their most recent census. Where entry is between the census process and the closing date of the scheme the reference number will be calculated on a case by case basis.
