Results 13,041-13,060 of 23,989 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 30 – Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (3 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: Let us look at the output since the legislation passed and since additional staff have come on board. If we look at where we were throughout 2020 and where we have been in the last couple of months, we see volume is starting to ramp up again significantly and it needs to continue to ramp up. I can assure the committee that in terms of the additional staff coming on board, and more will come...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 30 – Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (3 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: I was going to say that the notes I have with me are around the Estimate, which is not relevant to the forestry question. I do not have the dashboard in front of me at the moment to compare the figures that the Deputy has in front of him. What I can be very clear on is that every effort is being made to address the supply crunch that is there, and to address the issues in regard to volume...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Forestry Sector (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: Let me acknowledge there are delays in the issuing of forestry licences and there are currently real challenges and difficulties in the sector as a result. I fully recognise the impact this is having on the sector. My immediate priority is to resolve the issues which have led to this backlog and issue licences in the volume needed for this important sector to continue to contribute to our...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Forestry Sector (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: Some 4,700 files are in hand, 2,000 of which require an ecology input and assessment. Those require much more work and are where the delays have primarily occurred. The others, which do not require an ecological input, tend to be processed more quickly. As I said, so far this year, 2,300 licences have been issued to date. The fact the number of licences being issued has not been what is...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Covid-19 Pandemic (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: Since the beginning of the Covid19 global pandemic, my Department has worked intensively, in cooperation with marts representative organisations, to ensure that marts may remain in operation. I would like to commend the representative organisations for this good cooperation. I would like to commend also the marts themselves, and farmers around the country, for the resilience they have shown...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Retirement Scheme (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: In recent years, the priority of my Department has shifted to the encouragement of generational change for farmers by assisting the development of our young farmers. There is a range of supports in place including specific agri-taxation measures to incentivise this generational change. The agri-taxation measures specifically aimed at young farmers include 100% stock relief on income tax for...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Industry (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: The Beef Finisher Payment (BFP) scheme was launched on the 10th August 2020. The aim of the scheme was to provide income support for farmers finishing beef who have been impacted by the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Payments are made based on the data contained on my Department’s Animal Identification and Movements (AIM) system. My Department issued €46.6m to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Industry (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: The Beef Finisher Payment (BFP) scheme was launched on 10th August 2020. The aim of the scheme was to provide income support for farmers finishing beef who have been impacted by the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Payments are made based on the data contained on my Department’s Animal Identification and Movements (AIM) system. My Department issued €46.6m to 27,200...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Industry (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: Valuers are appointed as contractors to my Department via a multi-supplier tendering framework advertised on the e-tenders website in line with relevant Irish and EU public procurement regulations. The most recent request for tender (RFT), completed in 2016, required prospective tenderers to provide evidence of at least three years' experience in the evaluation of bovine livestock in one or...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Industry (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: This herd was restricted on 2nd October 2020 as a result of an animal, which was exported to Northern Ireland for direct slaughter, having suspect lesions. The lesions were sent for laboratory analysis to confirm the presence or otherwise of bovine TB. The results are awaited and they generally take around 11 weeks. According to my Department's records, the herdowner contacted the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Imports Data (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: Approximately 5 million tonnes of compound feed is manufactured in Ireland annually. This production comprises 3.5 million tonnes of feed ingredients imported from EU and Third Countries, with the remainder supplied from home-grown cereals. The main feed ingredients imported are protein supplements, maize and maize by-products, soyabean meal and rapeseed meal, much of which originates in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Industry (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: There is a common application procedure across Member States for PGI applications in the form of a specification document and a common single document to be completed by the applicant. My Department, as the Competent Authority, assesses whether the application dossier fulfils the necessary criteria and, if and when satisfied, publishes it on the Department website for a national...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Industry (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: To date, there have been no all-island PGI applications for food received by my Department. Separately, Ireland's three PGI Spirit Drink GIs are recognised on an all-island basis. The Technical Files detailing the product specifications for the Spirit Drink Geographic Indications were submitted to the EU Commission in February 2015 and registered in March 2019.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Feedstuffs (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: My Department does not currently have data on the overall volume of antibiotics added to rations by compound feeders or the sectors that such rations are designated for. The Department has, however, introduced an antimicrobial consumption database for pigs (AMUpig) in November 2019 and, so far, has achieved approximately 45% coverage of the Irish pig population. My Department is...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Livestock Issues (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: Movements of cattle and sheep within the State are recorded on my Department's Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) database. AIM does not record sales data. The information requested by the Deputy is provided in the Table attached. It should be noted that the 2020 figures are those recorded on the AIM database as at 27th November 2020. CATTLE AND SHEEP MOVEMENTS RECORDED...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Industry (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: Under our current understanding of legislation, livestock marts need a suitable physical location and infrastructure to conduct the business of a livestock mart. Livestock marts are licenced and regulated under the Animal Health and Welfare (Livestock Marts) Regulations 2018 (SI 128 of 2018). My Department has, since April, and with the cooperation of the marts representative organisations,...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: Under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, animals seized and detained are treated by rehoming if they are not commercial animals. Otherwise, these animals are either sold or processed. This is done promptly to mitigate animal welfare concerns.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Scheme Appeals (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: On 16th September 2020, my Department notified the person named of the loss of 5.66 entitlements to the National Reserve in 2020 as these entitlements had not been used over the two year usage period (2019 and 2020). On 20th October 2020, my Department received a late 2019 Transfer of Entitlements application to transfer these 5.66 entitlements, by way of gift, from the person named to the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 194 and 195 together. My Department receives forestry applications and issues new licences every week of the year. This means there is a constant turnover of applications and a worklist which has these applications at various stages of processing. We update our weekly licencing output to stakeholders through a dashboard. There are approximately 4,700...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (2 Dec 2020)

Charlie McConalogue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 196 and 197 together. The FAC is independent of my Department and reports separately on its output on its own website. The information below has been sourced from the FAC. With the introduction of the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 on 7thOctober 2020, four sub-divisions of the FAC have been established to deal with appeals in an increase from...