Results 4,461-4,480 of 8,194 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Hold on now. We can go back on his answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I asked Mr. Hayes if he was aware that forestry inspectors had issues in that they did not want to carry out the works and that they had made the Department aware of that "in your Department". Those were the exact words I used. Mr. Hayes said he was not aware of it. Is he aware of what Mr. Dunne said he was aware of?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: When he was before the committee in November, Mr. Hayes referred to 1,900 applications and he looked at me as if I had not added up the figures right. In fact, I was short. There were 4,500 applications. How could Mr. Hayes come before the committee and be that amount short in terms of the figures?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Mr. Hayes is just twisting words.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: My interpretation would be that if I am Joe Farmer, Coillte or a multinational that sends in an application, from the day it goes in to the day it is processed, be it an ecologist or whoever has to look at it, it is in the Department's system from beginning to end until a decision has been made one way or the other. Does Mr. Hayes agree?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The witnesses have stated that there are 200 fewer licences. In November and December, 541 licences were issued, of which 116 were afforestation, 58 were roads and 367 were felling. In the same period, 499 came into the Department. That is a difference of 42. Even if we go on the basis of the 200 that the Department has gained from its own interpretation, from reading the submission would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I know how it works but if the Department has gained 200 from the problem we had, what figure would Mr. Hayes say is acceptable to the public for licence applications so they could be processed in two or three months? What figure would this be down to instead of 4,500 or 4,600?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: There are licences that issued out of the 169 in the past two months that date back three and four years. I am a farmer. I presume the Department will accept that if farmers are waiting two or three years for decisions, they would move on to something else. I presume the witnesses accept that. In the past year, were they instructed by a Minister to prioritise Coillte applications?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have two short questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have a few short questions. Has the Department employed an outside company as well as the ecologists? My understanding is that the Department has an outside company looking over this as well. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: How much does it cost in a year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: We brought up an issue at our previous committee meeting in January. Mr. Hayes said there was 830,000 cu. m or tonnes of fell. Can we get the information on the dashboard? If I am building a house, I have to send a commencement notice to the council to say I am starting to build. Can we get an accurate figure of the amount of clear-fell timber? The Department gives a licence to include...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes, but we are reporting on nothing. We do not know. If I have a forest, I am going to thin it at the 20-year stage, and I might thin it again at year 24 or 25. In fairness, 70% or 80% of the volume of clear-fell will not be ready until 2030. We are not dealing with accurate figures and unless the Department brings in a system whereby a landowner sends a little note to say when...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Mr. Hayes is giving figures in respect of the amount of timber that is available for cutting, but it might not be available to cut for ten years. I understand where he is coming from. First, there could be thinning and then in five or ten years' time, it could be clear-felled. I accept that it is a clear-fell licence and that thinning will also happen, but that timber is not available....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: This is my final question. There is no denying that the public and the industry have lost faith in the Department. Every public representative hears it every day. All of the industry has lost faith in the Department. The national targets do not bother me, but that is what is set out under all these agreements. The Department has reached approximately 53% or 54% of the targets in the past...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Department of Agriculture and the Marine (29 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The one thing I ask Mr. Hayes is not to use court cases. I was not a Deputy in 2011 or 2012 but I knew about the habitats directive and the 15-km zone. I knew that the gate was left wide open if environmental impact assessment, screening and appropriate assessment were not implemented. I do not agree with such measures. I detest this stuff. However, the Department stated on its website...

Response of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to Covid-19: Statements (28 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: We talk about building houses. There is currently a problem with flooding in Lough Funshinagh, County Roscommon. Will the Department and especially the NPWS help in every way and not obstruct solutions to that problem? Second, people build one-off houses in rural Ireland. There might be one or two, at most, on site. At present, they are off-site due to the Covid regulations. Is that...

Covid-19 (Social Protection): Statements (28 Jan 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I first need to acknowledge the work being done by the people in the Department of Social Protection over the past year. Is there any intention to consider those who have businesses and who are pension age or over? They were not entitled to the PUP even though they had money borrowed. Is there any intention to change that? One of the vaccines we had hung our hat on is not being...