asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will ensure that lambs not qualifying for mountain subsidy do not have their ears punched in future.

Lambs not accepted for subsidy, do not normally have their ears punched. In a very small percentage of doubtful cases lambs may be marked at the time of inspection pending a decision later as to their acceptance for subsidy. I do not see how this can be avoided since the lambs are inspected only once and they cannot be accepted for subsidy even provisionaly without being marked.