Results 9,201-9,220 of 23,978 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Anything over 0.1 ha is countable and is assessed and measured.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: To return to the question on the 8,000 ha, the situation has always been that anything over 0.1 of a hectare is calculable for sequestration, etc. and is counted as forestry. The same applies in this case and that will be countable towards it. In terms of the 8,000 ha target, in the first instance the forestry programme and, indeed, the European regulations require at least 30% of that...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I take the Deputy's point. The capacity to plant up to 1 ha covers that type of an approach. While it might be wider, if it is within the 1 ha then it will cover it whereas the capacity to plant something that is above 1.1 ha but not greater than 20 m in width means that people will be able to plant more than 1 ha because there is no 1 ha limit but only if it is less than 20 m wide. The...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy. The provision is to enable us to put together a scheme, on which we would consult and engage with all interested stakeholders. We simply would not have the capacity to put a scheme together now to encourage the small-scale planting of native woodland and trees. I do not see how anyone could object to the proposal. It is a sensible and logical measure. It is about...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Over the past three or four months, we have been considering this in a significant way. Again, I cannot see how anyone would object to making it more practical to facilitate some afforestation. It is a positive, enabling mechanism. We will engage with all stakeholders when putting the scheme together. The more everyone reflects on this, the more they will realise it ticks the boxes in...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Up until now, any plantation above 0.1 ha would count towards our figures but people would have to apply for a licence for it, even if it was between 0.1 ha and 1 ha. This means that it is much more practical for anybody who wants to plant. On reaching the target of 8,000 ha, up until now, the target would be for 30% to be deciduous or native trees anyway. We need to be as ambitious as we...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: We all have to strive to improve the percentage of native trees. This is not about trying to reduce any ambition but about increasing our ambition and using every possible tool and the willingness that people have to contribute in a sensible way. This proposal stands on its own merits. I believe it can only be looked at in a positive fashion and its purpose is to enhance and contribute to...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Coillte has significant plans in that regard. In advance of Report Stage, I can get a briefing on what it is doing. With regard to Project Woodland and the work that we are doing, there is significant effort to make sure that we increase the level of native plantation and trees planted. That is something that Coillte plans to contribute to, as well as the fact that we need to try to...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: There is no conspiracy under way here. This is a positive, progressive measure. We want to get agreement for it to provide us with the legal basis to design a scheme to help to encourage this. In doing so, we will engage with all stakeholders and take all views on board. I would be happy to take the Deputy's and the committee's views on board and have a consultation with them about that?...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: On putting a scheme together, we will assess all those considerations to ensure the forestry is in appropriate places, is environmentally appropriate and that its location is appropriate. It is the finer detail that will be important and which we will bring together if we have the legal capacity to be able to develop such a scheme.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I do not have the figures to hand at the moment. Part of our concern and part of the problem here is because there is so much administration involved for quite a small plantation, they are not happening, even though farmers might want to do them and want them to happen. I am not aware of many such applications in the system. We would like to have many applications like that but for a small...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: It is outside the CAP. All of our forestry programme is outside the CAP strategic plan. It has been and will be this time around as well. It is separate and in addition to the CAP.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: We are on course. We are processing at least in excess of 100 per week at the moment and we are on course to meet 4,000 licences issued this year. That is up from approximately 2,000, from memory, for last year. That was an historic and unacceptable low. We have made progress over the past year, especially in the second and final thirds. There was an interruption over the summer due to a...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy. This is about simplifying how people can grow forestry and making it as straightforward and simple as we can. It is also about having proportionate and appropriate considerations on where it happens and how it integrates. In designing the scheme we will try to make it as streamlined and as sensible as possible, to ultimately ensure there is a good output and a good...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I do not see it having any impact on larger applications that require licences. The key issue is that licence output continues to increase and we address the backlog that is there. I understand that at the moment we do not have many applications of this size. Hopefully, we will start to see farmers taking this on and doing some planting but I do not see it as having an impact on the...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy's sound has gone there but I think he is asking that if a person has two or three plots of land on one farm, can he or she avail of this more than once? It would be sensible if a person could. It is for small-scale plantations. It would not be something that would be open to abuse in the form of putting several together to form a larger plantation that would require a licence....

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The objective here is to plant native woodland. I understand that if something is being supported through a European premium, there would be a plantation obligation or a replantation obligation on it. That is my understanding but I can clarify it for the Deputy on Report Stage.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I reject the notion that there has not been good consultation with the Department, with myself and the Minister of State, Senator Hackett and the sector. I would say there has never been more consultation. There have undoubtedly been real and significant challenges. This time last year we were in a real crisis situation around the supply of wood. We passed emergency legislation then with...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I move amendment No. 6: In page 12, lines 13 and 14, to delete “Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021” and substitute “Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021”.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (15 Dec 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I move amendment No. 7: In page 12, to delete lines 15 to 17.