Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
1283. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will address the case of a person (details supplied) regarding the suckler carbon efficiency programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37916/23]
View answerThe objective of the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) is to provide support to suckler and beef farmers to improve the environmental sustainability of the national beef herd. The programme aims to build on the gains delivered in recent years through the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) and the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme (BEEP) by improving the genetic merit of the Irish suckler herd.
As stated in the Terms and Conditions of the programme, “New Entrants to suckler farming” shall mean an applicant that commenced suckler farming in 2021, i.e. calved and registered an eligible calf for the first time since 1st January 2021. The person named applied for SCEP on 19 April 2023 and was considered a new entrant as she only commenced suckler farming in March 2021.
As part of the online application process on agfood.ie applicants and/or their FAS advisors were clearly advised to set their Programme Reference Number to reflect the number of eligible suckler cows that they know/estimate will produce an eligible calf on the holding in Scheme Year 1, which runs from 1st July 2022 – 30th June 2023.
A programme reference number of 51 was declared on the application, indicating that the applicant expected to have 51 eligible suckler cows calving down and producing an eligible suckler calf before 30 June 2023.
In late July 2023, my Department commenced validating the actual number of eligible suckler cows that produced an eligible calf in all SCEP herds categorised as "new entrants".
In this case, the Programme Reference Number was reduced from 51 to 27 reflecting the verification checks my Department carried out. This verification process identified that in this specific case, the number of eligible suckler cows that produced an eligible calf on the holding between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023 was 27. The herdowner concerned was issued a letter at this stage confirming that her reference number was 27.
Genomic tags were issued on the basis of 70% of the applied for reference number of 51 i.e. 35. As the actual reference number is 27, the requirement for genomic tags is amended to 18 i.e. 70% of 27. The person named will be liable for the cost of 18 genomic tags only.
