I propose to take Questions Nos. 197 and 200 together.
The amounts in question were used to cover, in part, the cost of creation, maintenance and further enhancement of the computerised cattle monitoring system, CMMS, and the development and integration with CMMS of the animal health computer system, AHCS. Bovine animal identification and tracing is a key element of the national beef assurance scheme. The uses and value of the system have gone well beyond the original design. The primary aim of CMMS was to provide a comprehensive central database of the origin, identity and life history of cattle. The extent and accuracy of data now available allows it to be used for other applications. The system is used increasingly and systematically to reduce the burden of paperwork for farmers, notably, through the elimination or simplification of application forms for livestock premiums, the establishment of premium entitlements direct from the system and the provision of ongoing data to farmers on the number and status of animals in their herds. The system is also routinely used to identify and trace cattle for disease control purposes – contact tracing for BSE and brucellosis. It provides general assurances to consumers about the origin and identification of Irish beef and is employed as a marketing tool by Ireland's beef export industry. It is used to assist in the testing and certification requirements of a variety of schemes such as certification of beef for Russia, determination of age for BSE testing etc.
The scheme has become an integral part of the ante-mortem process at factories and pre-clearance for live exports to the extent that neither can function in the absence of the system. It fulfils Ireland's EU identification obligations and cross-compliance obligations and acts as a management tool to highlight and follow up anomalies in animal origin and location. Its most recent use is as a statistical tool to assist the industry in making informed decisions about breeding and production.