Results 4,561-4,580 of 23,963 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I recognise that of the various CAP schemes introduced this year, the sheep improvement scheme received a smaller increase than other schemes. We increased the payment from €10 per ewe to €12 per ewe. It is plugged in and guaranteed for the full next five years. The outgoing sheep improvement scheme was an annual scheme running from budget to budget and paid from out of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Supports (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy is badly out of touch. I travel around the country all the time and have travelled to every county in the country when putting the CAP programme together. I also travel around the country regularly engaging with farmers in every county and there is strong recognition of the funding the Government is putting into agriculture and backing agriculture. The Deputy should know that in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Supports (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy for raising this. He is right in that I have made a strong commitment that we will introduce a scheme that recognises that forgotten farmers were not able to avail of particular schemes or supports for young farmers at the time in question because they were removed. These are farmers who are continuing to farm but who did not get the same supports others would have been...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Supports (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I raised this on many occasions, including from where the Deputy is now standing. The commitment stands and we are working our way through it. There are many other things happening but addressing this is part of the team's work programme. It is something we are determined to deliver on. It is not something we are going to be able to do immediately, but the commitments and promises made...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Supports (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I have to be able to follow through on any commitment I give; otherwise, the Deputy will be here in a month or two saying I made this or that promise. My commitment is that I will do what I have mentioned. The team is working on it. I do not have more specifics on the timeline just yet but we are trying to expedite matters alongside everything else. When I have more clarity on delivery...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inshore Fisheries (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy for her question. My Department and I continue to work on the commitment set out in the programme for Government on the banning of pair trawling inside the six-mile limit as a matter of priority. As the Deputy will be aware, in December 2018, following a public consultation process in which more than 900 submissions were received, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inshore Fisheries (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It was not possible to do anything until I received the final judgement, which was only received just over a month ago. As I said, and I cannot be any clearer, myself and the Government have a very strong commitment to work to protect fishing inside the six nautical miles for smaller vessels and for the inshore sector and to protect the sustainability of it. Nothing could be done until...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inshore Fisheries (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I am looking at the final court judgment to decide how we can step it out. This judgment was on a very narrow and small matter in the context of everything that was done here in respect of the whole process, where the judgment found against the Department and the policy was overturned. As the Deputy will know, it is much easier to stop something than it is to actually achieve something....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inshore Fisheries (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: In this particular instance - I have no doubt that there would have been hundreds of particular things that would have to have been followed as part of the process - all that one needs to find to strike a policy down is one small item. That is what happened here in this particular instance. Very significant commitment, time and effort was put into the consultation process and I am now...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Industry (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: According to the Deputy, the former Minister, Deputy Creed, stated there was not a resonance with grass-fed beef. I doubt he said that but the problem may have been-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Industry (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: There is a very strong resonance with grass-fed beef. It is widely understood in the marketplace. Grass-fed beef and grain-fed beef are two distinct products and that resonates with the consumer in most markets. It is the key selling point of our beef and it is something on which we go on the front foot when it comes to selling it internationally. The research carried out by Bord Bia...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Industry (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: -----it is not as widely understood in the markets into which we serve. We have a job to do to translate that wonderful product, which is not yet widely known, and develop the market for it. That is why I, as Minister, have, for the first time ever, specifically allocated €6 million to Bord Bia to develop the suckler brand. There is a committee involving all stakeholders and farm...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I agree with the Deputy on the importance of communicating this. I was about to highlight what would happen in the case of a red status. A red status might flag up the presence of an ineligible feature such as a house, farm or roadway. It might indicate a discrepancy in the category of agricultural area whether it is arable land, permanent crop or permanent grassland. For example, spring...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It is a massive logistical challenge in the first year of a CAP. All the schemes are new, the IT system is new, it is a challenge for farmers getting up and running on it and it is also a massive logistical and organisational challenge for the Department to open all the new schemes, have them running and to get the payments done. Once we get the first year over and we are into the second or...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Industry (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy for raising this As he will be aware, in December 2021, following scrutiny by the European Commission, the application for PGI for “Irish Grass Fed Beef” was published in the Official Journal of the European Union for a three-month opposition procedure that was open to both EU member states and third countries. Following the submission by the United Kingdom...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Industry (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: That is not accurate. All of us, including the farming organisations, representatives, the Department and Bord Bia, see the value. That is why this is being developed. It will be of real benefit to have a PGI grass-fed designation for beef. It will make it more marketable and more valuable in the markets we are selling into. It is due recognition of the quality of the product. I engaged...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fishing Industry (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I continue to work on the commitment set out in the programme for Government to: Ensure that inshore waters continue to be protected for smaller fishing vessels and recreational fishers and that pair trawling will be prohibited inside the six-mile limit. That is a programme for Government commitment on which I am determined to follow through. As the Deputy said, in December 2018 the then...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fishing Industry (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: That is a very unfair presentation and not representative of the situation at all. It is just over a month since the final judgment was returned-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fishing Industry (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: -----so it simply was not possible to do anything until we got the final judgment. Is it now four years since the whole process started? We have to make sure any step we take now meets any legal challenges and is fully robust. The team has fully assessed the previous judgment. We are now working on assessing this judgment. We have had it only a month. We will step it out. My commitment...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fishing Industry (20 Apr 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Well, that is just a statement of fact and an obvious response to the question the Deputy asked.