Results 3,861-3,880 of 10,843 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2021
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Local Government Fund Account 2021
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 4: Re-allocation of Voted Funds
Chapter 6: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 7: The Housing Agency’s Revolving Acquisition Fund (26 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I thank Mr. Doyle for that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: If I may raise a point of order, the Minister has just delivered an opening statement that differs from the one that was circulated. Can we have a hard copy of the Minister's actual opening statement and perhaps get clarification as to why there are two different statements?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I wish to clarify a point. I have had a number of engagements with Coillte on its forestry strategy. Regarding its pronouncements on partnerships, I asked it what those might look like. Coillte stated categorically that they would primarily entail engagement with local communities, farmers and current foresters in the first instance. That was not what happened in the first instance,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: Giving the Minister the benefit of the doubt, if this was not his preferred option, I take it that he did not envisage a deal with an organisation like Gresham House, a British investment fund. Had he known before the deal was signed off on, would he have used his authority as Minister to stop it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: It is a yes-no answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I will come to that but the Chair is running a very tight clock.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I am not allowing the Minister to run down the clock-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: -----because here is the issue. The Minister did know before 16 December and the reason I know he knew is because I had heard of this potential deal with Gresham House and brought it to his attention. I raised it in the Dáil and not only did I do, but Deputies Fitzmaurice and Boyd Barrett also raised it. They told him in November. We also had an engagement with Coillte the week...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: The Minister can clarify if I am wrong but I take it that he signed a letter of expectation to Coillte in June 2022. What was the purpose of that letter of expectation? Why did he feel the need to sign it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: So it was specifically to allow it to pursue this proposal?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I take it that then was specifically to allow it to pursue that course. In relation to-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: The Minister has just informed us that Coillte is seeking to invest €10 million of its own funds in this joint venture. Why would Coillte not just invest that €10 million on it own part? Why would it need to do this? Why would it not just use what is public money in its own venture?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: What the Minister is suggesting is that €10 million-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: The Minister is suggesting that the €10 million invested in this joint venture will not then be subject to the state aid rules, as opposed to were Coillte to invest in-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: Okay. State aid rules have been cited not as a reason but as the primary reason. That is what Coillte told us when its representatives appeared before the committee in December and that is what the party leader of the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, has said, namely, that this is down to EU state aid rules. I ask the Minister to be as concise as possible but what efforts have he and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: But the state aid rules are in place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: In advance of that, what efforts did the Minister of State make to ensure that those state aid rules would allow Coillte to invest directly, as opposed to the need for these joint ventures?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: No, the state aid rules have been under review for some time. The Commission carried out a review of the state aid instruments for agriculture, forestry and rural areas and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine made a submission to that and got involved in the consultation process in 2021. The European Commission very helpfully published all of the submissions they received...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I know that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I am asking a specific question.