Results 9,061-9,080 of 10,878 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Industry (21 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: 2552. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has examined the reasons for the significant beef price differential between the Irish and UK markets recently; his plans to implement measures to address the relatively poor prices secured by Irish farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20279/21]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (21 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: 2553. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the intended number of participants in the new agri-environment scheme post the CAP transition period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20280/21]

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: I welcome Mr. Gleeson and his team and thank them for making themselves available this evening. In view of the limited time, I will go straight to discussing a pertinent issue. There are reports that the European Commission has made a ruling on the withdrawal of the derogation relating to fish weigh-ins at factories. This matter is being reported in terms that Ireland cannot be trusted...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: Can Mr. Gleeson indicate whether the Department will be challenging the findings? I take it that that is what he is saying in the context of the engagement with the Commission.

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: I will touch on the TB eradication programme because the figures can appear stark when taken in a certain context. I looked through the figures for previous years and discovered that the spend on the TB eradication programme in 2014 was more than €86 million and that 16,000 cases of TB were detected. Last year, the spend was €98 million and 23,000 cases detected. Where this...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: To be absolutely clear, I am not disputing that we need to do all we can to eradicate TB but I am contemplating whether our investment has delivered. It is very difficult to get a breakdown and to extrapolate the exact detail of the funding that is attributed to the Exchequer. Can the Department provide the committee with a detailed breakdown of the Exchequer funds for 2019 and 2020?

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: A breakdown would be useful. Finally, with the indulgence of the Chair, I wish to touch on environmental schemes, particularly in the context of the new scheme that is coming down the tracks and that is in pilot phase at the moment. If we go back to the old REPS, the Holy Grail to which farmers want to return, the average payment was approximately €4,500. The GLAS payment was around...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: I want to go back to the interaction with Deputy Munster, in which it was stated that essentially, funding is allocated to the horse and greyhound fund and it is up to the organisations to spend or distribute that as they see fit. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: This year the Department allocated an additional €12 million to the horse and greyhound fund, which is a lot of money in the middle of a pandemic. It seems utterly bizarre that this would be done without any idea of how the funds would be distributed.

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: Before Dr. Smyth comes in, could I put the specific question to him? The backbone of the horse industry are local breeders the length and breadth of this country. They are the people who provide the benefit to our local economy and to our rural communities. They are the people who are the bedrock of the outstanding successes we have seen in the Grand National and elsewhere, yet they are...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: To clarify, and I am sorry for cutting across Dr. Smyth, contrary to what we heard earlier, the Department does have a view that this is actually the best way of distributing the funding to the sector.

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: But does Dr. Smyth accept that there is a huge concentration in the division of that prize money-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: -----to a very small number of trainers and that most breeders actually get damn-all? I am referring to the people who do all the work, making our industry the success that it is internationally.

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: But not from the taxpayer. This is the point. Yes, they are absolutely-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: The Irish taxpayer should not be supporting them at the expense of the smaller breeders who are the backbone of the industry.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Proposed Amendments to the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions: Discussion (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: I thank the Chairman and our guests. I commend Mr. Duffy on his role and period as president of Macra na Feirme. I wish Mr. Keane all the best. I am sure the Chairman will agree that, for a Tipperary man, trying to follow in the footsteps of a Cavan man is always an unenviable position to be in. However, I have no doubt Mr. Keane will manage very well with the guidance and support of-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Proposed Amendments to the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions: Discussion (20 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: In my end of the country, we consider everyone down there the same. Through our deliberations, all members of the committee agree that if we do not create the conditions to allow young people to enter farming and be sustainable and profitable in that endeavour, the Irish family farm as we know it will not be in place in a generation. The work of Macra na Feirme is crucial. The outworkings...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Proposed Amendments to the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions: Discussion (14 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: I thank all the farm organisations for their attendance at this meeting which was called because of the very serious concerns among committee members on the position as articulated by the INHFA on the GAEC 2 proposals. Will the INHFA representatives outline what exactly they see as being the potential concerns from these proposals as outlined? I hope they have had an opportunity to see...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Proposed Amendments to the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions: Discussion (14 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: I thank the Department officials for being present. I want to go back to the issue of GAEC 2. If we look at the different negotiating positions, small word changes can make a big impact. I know this from my time in Europe. When one moves from "eligible area" to "agricultural land" or vice versa, or when one uses the word "minimum" or "appropriate", the words can have very different...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Implications of Climate Action Plan for Agricultural Sector: Teagasc (14 Apr 2021)

Matt Carthy: I reiterate my thanks to the two professors and I send my best wishes to Professor Boyle as he moves on. I have a number of questions that relate, in the first instance, to the opening statement, which alluded to major reductions equivalent to 51% by 2030 that would require a substantial reduction in the amount of agricultural activity in Ireland. Does this convey that Teagasc is not...