Following persistent lobbying by Ireland’s mart organisation, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS), Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed confirmed on Monday that his Department will be setting aside €300,000 under state aid for funding up to 40% of the purchase cost of new electronic data display screens in marts throughout the country.

The screens, which can cost up to €10,000, will display important information for farmers, including economic breeding information for dairy farmers, and beef genomics data for suckler farmers participating in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP).

ICOS welcomed Monday’s announcement of the grant aid, saying this information “will be of widespread benefit to the Irish livestock sector”.

Speeding up the installation of boards in marts

Back in November 2015, ICOS asked former Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney to consider a grant-aid proposal for the screens. Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal at the time, ICOS national marts executive Ray Doyle said this would be the best way to speed up the installation of boards in marts across the country.

“By the time marts raise enough money by themselves to install the boards, the six-year BDGP might be nearly over,” he said.

Reacting to Monday’s news of the grant aid, Doyle said: “Increasingly, farmers are buying animals due to their genetic profile, particularly in respect of dairy stock, rather than the look of the animal in the ring. These screens will allow for the uniform display of information for farmers, including EBI and beef genomics data, which will be of widespread benefit to the Irish livestock sector.”

Terms and conditions of funding

The money for this scheme, called the Mart Modernisation Scheme, has been set aside under de minimis state aid, which allows for a maximum of €200,000 to be granted to any one enterprise over a three-year period. Because such amounts are seen as falling outside the category of state aid that is banned by the EC Treaty, it can be awarded without notification to or clearance by the EU Commission.

The total amount of aid available for this scheme is fixed at €300,000, which means that the final amount of grant aid payable per eligible application will not be determined until the total number of eligible applications are known. However, it will be set at a maximum of 40% of the purchase cost.

Only one application for this scheme may be submitted per livestock mart premises and livestock marts must apply for and receive approval for the purchase of such display screens prior to the purchase of any screen. The grant aid does not cover the purchase of software for the screen display.

The scheme will be open from Monday 23 May and interested marts are asked to contact the Department at beefpolicy@agriculture.gov.ie or go directly to download the application forms from the Department’s website here.

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