Results 8,821-8,840 of 23,978 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I am acutely aware of the impact rising input costs has on farmers, their families and businesses. The very significant rise in fertiliser prices in the last year and particularly in recent months is particularly concerning. There are a number of factors at play in the market including energy prices which remain well above January 2021 levels. Increased global demand particularly from...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticulture Sector (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: On 17th January, my Department, in conjunction with the Departments of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), and Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Housing) published a working paper that sets out a series of actions to support the horticultural growers who are dependent on peat as a growing medium. The commissioning of an independent expert to work with all peat suppliers to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Trade Promotion (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Continuing to develop market opportunities at home and abroad for Irish agri-food businesses is a key goal of Food Vision 2030, which identified specific actions to support the diversification and development of export markets. To support the achievement of those objectives, Bord Bia received a significant allocation of €53m in Budget 2022. This funding will enable Bord Bia to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: While slaughter levels were slightly down for both beef and sheep in 2021, prices were significantly up on the previous year. Both sectors also saw an increase in the value of exports. For beef, the total annual slaughter figure at the end of 2021 was 1.66 million head which represents a 5% decrease on 2020 levels of 1.75 million head. This was in line with the projection of tightening...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Harbours and Piers (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: On 25th January I launched a new €35m scheme exclusively for the rejuvenation of Local Authority owned public piers and harbours. The scheme flows from a recommendation from the Seafood Taskforce which I set up last year to examine how to address the impacts arising on the seafood sector from the EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). In keeping with the Taskforce...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Safety (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: My Department has a range of measures in place to raise awareness of farm safety. These include capital support to make farms safer and support for education and awareness. Some of the measures are as follows: Under the suite of seven TAMS measures, there is a wide range of farm safety related investments available to be grant-aided, with ‘Health and Safety’ guidelines...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The pilot Soil Sampling and Analysis Programme is a substantial, innovative and very ambitious programme. Such comprehensive analysis at this scale has never been undertaken in Ireland before. A contract was signed with an external service provider on the 19th October with sampling of farms commencing in November and due to continue over the winter and spring months, concluding towards the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Foreshore Issues (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: My Department issued 4,050 forestry licences last year, which is an increase of 56% on the number issued in 2020. In terms of the categories of each type of licence issued, these approvals included 2,877 felling licences. Critically, the availability of this volume of timber, at nearly 8.5 million cubic metres, stabilised supply to the processing sector in 2021. This is the highest...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Safety (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: My Department has a range of measures in place to raise awareness of farm safety. This includes actions to educate and raise awareness of farm safety but also capital support to make farms a safer working environment. Some of the measures are as follows: Under the suite of seven TAMS measures, there is a wide range of farm safety related investments available to be grant-aided, with...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As I advised the Deputy in December 2021, in December 2018, the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine announced that vessels over 18 metres length overall will be excluded from trawling in inshore waters inside six nautical mile zone from 1st January 2020. A transition period of three years for vessels over 18 metres length overall targeting sprat was allowed to enable adjustment...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Forestry Act, 2014 provides that a landowner must obtain a tree felling licence prior to felling any tree or trees. To fell trees, save certain exemptions, without a valid licence is an offence. Except for trees that have come about by way of natural regeneration and less than five years old, the Act does not provide an exemption from obtaining a licence where the trees are under a...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Brexit Supports (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: On 12 January, I was delighted to announce a support scheme for the inshore fisheries sector to assist inshore fishers in adjusting to the impacts of Brexit on their businesses. The Brexit Inshore Fisheries Business Model Adjustment Schemedelivers on a recommendation of the Report of the Seafood Task Force - Navigating Change(October 2021). The scheme is proposed for funding under the EU...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Public Sector Staff (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As requested, the table below provides a breakdown (by section) of the civil servants in my Department working in a number of locations in County Wexford. The table also includes information on the numbers of State agency employees currently working in that county. County Wexford Departmental Section Civil Servants ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sustainable Development Goals (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Ireland has adopted a ‘whole-of-Government’ approach to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with each Minister having responsibility for implementing individual SDG targets related to their functions. My Department is a lead on the following five SDGs: - Goal 2:Zero Hunger - Goal 12:Responsible Consumption and Production - Goal 14:Life below Water - Goal...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Climate Change Policy (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: In November 2021, the Climate Action Plan was published, setting out an ambitious reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for the agriculture sector of between 22% and 30% by 2030 when compared with a 2018 baseline. The achievement of this target will take a whole-of-government, whole-of-sector approach, but I remain confident in the sector's ability to achieve its climate targets without...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Industry (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: In November 2021, the Climate Action Plan was published, setting out an ambitious reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for the agriculture sector of between 22 and 30% by 2030 when compared with a 2018 baseline. The achievement of this target will take a whole-of-government, whole-of-sector approach. The Climate Action Plan is aligned with Food Vision 2030 strategy which was published last...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Industry (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 458 and 459 together. Over the period 2016 to 2020 the volume of imports of beef, dairy produce and sheep meat have increased while the volume of pig meat imports has decreased. The volume of beef imported increased from 29,500 tonnes in 2016 to 30,000tonnes in 2020, an increase of 2%. This compares to 525,000 tonnes of beef Ireland exported in 2020. Imports...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Industry (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Based on the latest data available from the European Commission for the period 2017 to 2020, EU imports of beef from Mercosur countries have been stable, with on average approximately 200,000 tonnes imported per annum. The table below sets out the annual figures as well as latest figures available for 2021. 2017 2018 2019 2020 Jan-Nov...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticulture Sector (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Tillage farming makes a significant contribution to the agri-food industry and the economy. The cereal sector is a major contributor of high-quality grain to the feed industry, provides raw material for the food and drinks industry and is a key source of seed production in addition to providing straw to the livestock sector. Cereal growing continues to be attractive in Ireland with...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 462 and 465 together. As the Deputy is aware, the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) will, unfortunately, have an impact on our fishing industry. However, this impact would have been far greater had the Barnier Task Force agreed to UK demands, or had we been in a no-deal scenario which would have seen all EU vessels barred from UK waters and...