The Dealer was pleased to see that Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed paid attention to last week’s coverage of the so-called four-movement rule.

The minister had initially said in response to a parliamentary question from Michael Healy-Rae that penalties on animals having moved through more than four farms were part of the Quality Payment System (QPS), a “purely private arrangement” between the IFA and beef factories.

The Dealer pointed out that the QPS concerned payments on the grid, while the limit on four residencies was part of the separate 12c/kg in-spec bonus (though both were introduced at the same time). Minister Creed has since written to Deputy Healy-Rae to confirm this, correct the record and apologise for the confusion. He contacted IFA president Joe Healy to do the same.

Any other questions? The Dealer is here to help.

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