The new Programme for Government commits to the introduction of a scheme for sheep farmers under the Rural Development Programme with a budget of €25 million to be provided in Budget 2017.
Discussions have commenced with the European Commission and a formal submission will be made shortly. Any such scheme must comply with the Rural Development Regulation. This scheme will be additional to the existing supports available to sheep farmers under the BPS, GLAS, ANC and TAMS, and will make a vital contribution to ensuring the continuing viability of the sheep sector in Ireland.
My officials are currently working on the details of the scheme, taking into account consultations with the farm organisations and the discussions with the European Commission. The Scheme is being developed as an animal welfare scheme under Article 33 of the Rural Development Regulation and all actions or undertakings will have to show a clear connection to improving animal welfare conditions for those flocks within the scheme.
EU rules relating to the identification of sheep are laid down in Commission Regulation 21 of 2004, which requires the electronic identification of all sheep by 9 months of age at the latest (but before leaving the holding of birth) with a conventional tag and an EID tag/bolus. Article 4(3) of the Regulation provides for a derogation whereby Member States may chose to allow the identification of lambs slaughtered before the age of 12 months by way of a single conventional tag. This ‘slaughter derogation’ was availed of by my Department and has been incorporated into the current National Sheep Identification System (NSIS) which has now been in place for over 4 years.
