Vol. 514 No. 6
157 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the proposals, if any, to move the EU income support system for livestock farmers away from a current headage basis towards another basis of entitlement which would reduce the requirement to hold stock numbers to qualify for payment in view of the fact beef quality may not be encouraged sufficiently by the current system. [4708/00]
There are no proposals to change the EU income support system for livestock farmers from the current headage basis. In fact, the Agenda 2000 Agreement, concluded last year, has retained the per head livestock basis and it is unlikely, therefore, that this system will be changed in the near future.
An area based system, which is the main alternative to a headage system, would not necessarily be advantageous to the Irish beef sector. In the first place, the headage system is well suited to Irish conditions with the result that Irish producers secure approximately 11% of the premium payments compared with our 7% share of EU beef production. My Department estimates that our share of the payments based on area would fall to approximately 8.5%. Second, in a situation where the cost of production exceeded the returns from the market, an area based system, which is not based on a requirement to keep beef animals, would result in a sharp drop in beef production. In addition, an area based system would not necessarily provide any greater incentive to improve the quality of animals in comparison with a headage system.
At the same time, under the Agenda 2000 Agreement, the disadvantaged areas compensatory headage schemes will move from a livestock based system to an area based system with effect from 2001. While the details of the new area based scheme have not yet been finally agreed, the requirement to have certain levels of livestock will remain as a condition of eligibility for payment.
The beef task force, which I set up to address the developmental requirements of the sector made firm recommendations in relation to quality. Some of these, which include the payment on grade rather than a flat pricing basis are already in place. Also, where there is national discretion under the EU support regime, such as in the case of expenditure from the national envelope, this instrument has aimed at encouraging quality by targeting support to beef heifer producers.
I am satisfied that the recently established Irish Cattle Breeding Federation – ICBF – in which all the organisations involved in cattle breeding improvement activities on a national basis are participating, represents a sound framework to achieve real improvement in the quality of our beef cattle. Its main objective is to ensure Irish farmers benefit to the greatest possible extent from genetic improvement in cattle. It has been provided with the necessary resources and capabilities to do this and has already made considerable progress towards establishing a suitable permanent structure for the organisation and development of the required genetic evaluation and information technology systems.
