Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2021
717. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to reintroduce the sheep electronic identification or EID tag subsidy scheme or similar schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56888/21]
View answerThe Sheep EID Tag Subsidy Scheme was introduced as a once-off scheme in 2018, in conjunction with the decision to extend electronic identification to all sheep from 1st June 2019.
The Scheme provided a payment of up to a maximum of €100 per eligible keeper in respect of the first electronic sheep tag order completed between 1st October 2018 and 30th September 2019. Payments were based on the number of electronic tags included in the first eligible order, with €1 paid in respect of each electronic tag ordered. I currently have no plans to re-introduce this scheme for sheep.
I have recently announced the introduction of a similar scheme to coincide with a move to mandatory electronic identification of cattle from January 2022 onwards. This financial support will assist farmers in transitioning to this new electronic identification system.
The intention is that the cattle EID tag scheme will operate over three years (2022 to 2024 inclusive) with the first payments scheduled to take place in Quarter 4 2022 amounting to €2.25 million. Payments in 2022 will be calculated on the number of new EID tag sets purchased from 1st January 2022 at a rate of €1 per new EID tag set.
There is a maximum payment of €100 per farmer over the life of the scheme and, similar to the Sheep EID Tag Subsidy Scheme, no application process will be required as all required information is available on my Department's systems.
The cattle scheme is proportionately weighted in favour of smaller producers. Farmers can only order annually the number of new tag sets required commensurate to the number of breeding females in the herd.
Mandatory bovine EID will be implemented in two stages. From 1st January 2022, all approved bovine tag suppliers will be required to supply an EID tag with all new tag orders. Each new tag set will include one EID tag and one tissue tag. From 1st July 2022, it shall be a legal requirement on herd keepers to officially identify all new-born calves with a tag set containing an EID tag.
EID tags will be white in colour. The colour of conventional and tissue tags will remain yellow.
Mandatory bovine EID will deliver a substantial improvement in the bovine identification system for farmers, livestock marts, slaughter plants, export assembly centres and veterinarians. This initiative aligns with and supports the Food Vision 2030 objective that Ireland will become a world leader in Sustainable Food Systems, enhancing consumer trust in our food systems.
Further, it will lead to a safer working environment for all stakeholders with less reliance on manual checking of bovine tag numbers.
