Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 October 2019
483. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of dairy farmers who have slaughtered cattle between May and September 2019 that were outside the eligibility criteria for the BEAM scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42129/19]
View answerThe object of the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) is to provide temporary exceptional adjustment aid to farmers in the beef sector in Ireland subject to the conditions set out in EU Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1132. BEAM is funded by a combination of EU exceptional aid and Exchequer support, provided in light of the difficult circumstances that Irish beef farmers have been facing as a result of market volatility and uncertainty.
Under the scheme, aid will be paid on adult cattle slaughtered between September 24, 2018, and May 12, 2019, at a rate of €100 per animal subject to a maximum of 100 finished animals per herd. Aid will also be paid on suckler cows that calved in 2018, at a rate of €40 per animal subject to a maximum of 40 sucklers per herd.
In order to be eligible for payment applicants needed to be a participant on one of the following schemes;
- Organic Farm Scheme (OFS)
- Green Low Carbon Agri-Environmental Scheme (GLAS)
- Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot (BEEP)
- Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP)
or
- Be a participant or agree to join the Bord Bia – Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS).
A total of 12,546 herds had 198,811 adult cattle slaughtered in the relevant period but were deemed ineligible for payment under BEAM as they were recorded as milk suppliers, as defined in the Terms and Conditions of the scheme, and had greater than 40 dairy cows on the 31st of December of 2018 as per the Department's AIM system.
