Results 4,021-4,040 of 8,194 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: She is the Minister with responsibility for horticulture.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank the witnesses for attending. I have a number of quick-fire questions. One of the functions of the task force was to establish the four-movement and 30-month rules and requirements for what we call "specs". I know Grant Thornton was looking at that. My understanding is that the processors and retailers were asked about this and the different specs that are needed in different...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Bearing in mind the market we are in, I killed cattle not too long ago that were overage. No one in Bord Bia was worried about whether they were overage because there is a shortage of cattle at the moment. It seems nobody cares whether they may have had 20 movements or are 40 months old. It is my understanding from research I have done that neither Grant Thornton nor anybody else went out...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: With due respect, it would have been no harm to go to the people who buy and eat the beef. That was not done, however. That is it. I will move on. I have a question regarding the information in the report on offal and the price of carcases. Mr. Dowling stated clearly that Grant Thornton was able to get the facts here in Ireland. Is it the case, however, that some retailers and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank Mr. Dowling for that information. He has been on the task force for a while. In his opinion, what is the reason that the price dropped suddenly in February and cattle were able to go up after that? This did not happen in any other country in Europe. What is his thinking on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: An application has gone into the EU for protected geographical indication, PGI, status for Irish beef. Is it the task force's understanding that there will be a premium price for PGI product? Has any work been done to make sure that if we get PGI status, it will mean a higher, premium price for our beef?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: In his submission, Mr. Dowling referred to farmers getting €160 million or €170 million extra, if I recall correctly. What moneys is he referring to there? Is that funding coming under the beef environmental efficiency pilot, BEEP, or something else?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I am sorry for interrupting but it should be made clear that when the €100 million was made available, including the €50 million from Europe, €70 million or €75 million was paid because cattle prices were on the floor. Some of the schemes Ms McPhillips mentioned existed before the task force was set up. We are seeing a reduction of 5% because of the BEAM scheme....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Am I correct in saying that no suckler grant was made? In his submission, Mr. Dowling referred to there being talk about a suckler grant and about money being made available, but no suckler cow welfare grant has been paid. I am talking about €200 or €300 to save the suckler herd. None of that was achieved.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I know that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Mr. Dowling is analysing cattle numbers and the beef sector. Does he have concerns about the number of dairy cattle or dairy beef that will come on the system next year? Does he agree that factories can increase the price when the supply of cattle is short? For example, there is no one banging on his door at the moment over the price because there are €4.50, €4.70 and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have read most of the Grant Thornton report. The industry, retailers and so on have said that they need this, this and this but they do not seem concerned at the moment about the four-movement rule, the 30-month rule or any of the other specs. Is that not unusual if the specs were important before now?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank Mr. Dowling.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I would like to go revisit a couple of issues with Ms McPhillips. There are producer groups already operating in the sheep sector and they are working well. There appears to be a resistance to the producer groups among the factories on the beef side. Is it correct that approximately 70% or more of the beef we export goes to the UK for mince?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: How much of that is mince?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Representatives of MII gave us figures indicating a huge volume of mince. My understanding on specifications, and I have done a bit of digging on it with Bord Bia, is that something like 750,000 cuts equates to 250,000 cattle but 750,000 cattle are needed to get enough cuts to be able to cater for demand. If the figure is approximately 50% of our beef, only 250,000 cattle, if they all had...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have one problem. I am not blaming Mr. Dowling for this but how much did Grant Thornton get for these three reports?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The one problem I have is that one report was done on specifications and, whether we like to believe it or not, we have gone to the wrong people. In fairness, some people outside the country co-operated with Grant Thornton. However, on the value of an animal, the fact is there are now people around the world who are looking for many parts of an animal, including gallstones. We talked about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Task Force: Discussion (6 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: That is grand. I think Deputy Flaherty wants to come in.

Companies (Rescue Process for Small and Micro Companies) Bill 2021: Second Stage (2 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and I support it. It is good that we are shining a little light on small and medium sized businesses around the country. When a person decides to start up a small business in which only he or she or three, four or five other people are to be employed that person is taking a risk. Many people put their houses and their families at risk until...