asked the Minister for Agriculture the proposals he has to increase the national cattle herd.

32.

asked the Minister for Agriculture the proposals he has to increase the national herd.

33.

asked the Minister for Agriculture the action he proposes to take to have a greater volume of slaughtering at our meat plants.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 31, 32 and 33 together.

The reduced level of slaughterings at meat plants since 1980 is due mainly to a decline in the cattle herd which this Government are actively seeking to reverse.

A range of measures is already in operation to encourage farmers to expand livestock numbers. These include the calf premium, the suckler cow premium, calved heifer grant, and the headage schemes in the disadvantaged areas. A farmer in those areas can now obtain as much as £169 for an extra heifer and calf, while a farmer outside those areas can get £118. These represent very attractive incentives to increase breeding herds.

I am glad to note that slaughterings at our meat export premises to date this year are 8 per cent higher than the corresponding period last year and I hope that this upward trend will continue.

Arising from the recent EEC price negotiations, the support price for beef has been increased by over 13 per cent and this should also have a stimulating effect on production and on factory throughput.

A reply to a question yesterday indicated that our cattle herd is not increasing. Will the Minister not agree that the only hope of improving our economic situation is to increase the number of livestock? This Government took a retrograde step when they set out qualifying limits for applicants for cattle headage grants in severely disadvantaged areas. It is generally accepted that the quickest and cheapest way to increase the cattle herd would have been to increase the cattle headage payment rather than impose limitations.

I fail to see the logic of the Deputy's query. I do not know what source the Deputy was using in his original statement. Was he referring to a question answered yesterday?

Yes. It was information regarding the estimated number of cattle in the State on 1 December 1981 and 1 December 1982. On 1 December 1982 there were 5,000 fewer cattle: the number was marginally over 5,750,000. This is lower than ten years ago when we entered the EEC with all the aids and benefits we received in the meantime.

I would point out to the Deputy that the year in which cattle numbers were most seriously depleted was 1980.

It was 1974-75.

The numbers have been built up since, although not as speedily as I would have hoped in spite of the incentives, subsidies and premiums to which I referred to in my reply. The latest statistic I have is that between June 1980 and June 1982 the total number of cows rose by 1.9 per cent. That seems a little at odds with the Deputy's figure but I am quoting from statistics which I have before me.

On a point of information, I was talking about the overall cattle population, not figures in respect of cows.

If the national herd is to increase, surely the number of cows has to increase first.

Perhaps sometime someone will explain to me the difference between cattle and cows. Will the Minister indicate the reasons for the fall in the number of cattle herd during the years? The year 1974 was mentioned as was 1980.

It is very difficult to explain. When people experienced financial difficulties, primarily in 1978 and 1979, the natural recourse was to sell off stock in order to meet bills. That, unfortunately, was a trend at that time which I am glad to say has been reversed.