Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 April 2023
319. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether heifers will be included in quota numbers in the new suckler scheme in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18705/23]
View answerThe Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP), which will run from 2023 to 2027, is designed to support farmers in improving the environmental sustainability of the national beef herd and to improve the genetic merit of the suckler herd. The scheme aims to build on the gains achieved through previous beef sustainability measures such as the Beef Data and Genomics Programme and the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme.
Regarding the specific query raised by the Deputy, heifers are not considered reference animals. Reference animals are defined in the scheme terms and conditions as: "the number of eligible suckler cows producing an eligible calf in years 2016-2021".
The applicant will be presented with the best three years of 2016-2021 and will receive the average of these 3 years as a reference number. This reference number will be divided by 1.5 to give a maximum payable area (MPA).
However, the Deputy may wish to note that heifers over 16 months of age are eligible for inclusion under Scheme action 2 on the female replacement strategy when participants must ensure that a certain percentage of their yearly reference number are eligible females that are genotyped 4 or 5 stars on the replacement index.
Full details on the terms and conditions of the scheme available on my Department's website at: gov.ie - Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) (www.gov.ie).
In addition, my Department is currently conducting a series of information sessions which will take place until early May. Further details on the schedule are available at the above link.
Finally, the Beef Schemes Section in my Department has a dedicated SCEP e-mail address and a phone number for queries on the operation of the Scheme
Email: scep@agriculture.gov.ie.
Phone number: +00 353 (0) 57 8674422.
