Results 17,521-17,540 of 18,645 for speaker:Brendan Smith
- Fishing Industry: Motion (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: Fishermen would prefer a regime of administrative sanctions, as is the norm on the Continent.
- Fishing Industry: Motion (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: The possibility of introducing administrative sanctions was comprehensively considered, including examination of the practices in other member states, at the time of the passage of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Bill. The position taken by the then Minister was based on the legal advice of the Attorney General.
- Fishing Industry: Motion (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: I listened to the Deputy and ask him to do the same. When the Minister of State, Deputy Tony Killeen, and I met the Federation of Irish Fishermen, we were asked, and we committed to asking the Attorney General, to examine the issue further and to consider whether any new developments could support the introduction of a regime of administrative sanctions for fisheries offences in the State....
- Fishing Industry: Motion (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: The issue has been raised consistently by my party colleagues and I have asked the Attorney General for further advice thereon.
- Fishing Fleet Protection. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: I have met the fishermen and I know their concerns. I have also heard these concerns from colleagues in the Oireachtas. Several issues were put to Commissioner Borg both in the meeting with the Minister of State, Deputy Tony Killeen, and I and at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. We made progress on the IUU regulation, which I mentioned earlier in answer to a question from Deputy...
- Fishing Fleet Protection. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: I do not know the differential in fuel price between countries but there is a specific measure in this country to assist fishermen with the cost of fuel. At the Council of Ministers meeting, as well as bilateral meetings, we put a range of proposals to the Commissioner for consideration. He took the views of all the different member states and he had to return to the college of...
- Farm Waste Management. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: Approximately 42,000 applications have been approved.
- Direct Payment Schemes. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: For payments in excess of â¬5,000, additional compulsory modulation at a rate of 2% per year is proposed from 2009 to 2012. This would bring the modulation rate to 13% by 2012. A further 3% modulation is proposed on payments in excess of â¬100,000, an additional 6% is proposed on payments over â¬200,000 and an additional 9% is proposed on payments above â¬300,000. The objective is to...
- Direct Payment Schemes. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: I agree with the Deputy. The statement he quoted from me was issued immediately after the publication of the Commissioner's proposals on 27 May, which was the first time I had sight of them. I repeat that Ireland is strongly opposed to increased rates of compulsory modulation. The CAP health check process has just begun. I responded previously to a parliamentary question tabled by the...
- Direct Payment Schemes. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: As for the Deputy's point on the visit by President Sarkozy, he is aware I have met the French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Michel Barnier, on a number of occasions when we discussed issues of common concern and interest. I will continue to so do within the Council of Ministers with like-minded Ministers. A variety of views have been expressed by Ministers from various member...
- Fishing Industry Development. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: The Agriculture and Fisheries Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg last week had a heavy agenda of fisheries items which were of importance to the Irish fishing industry. I attended the meeting with my colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries and forestry, Deputy Killeen. In the run-up to, and during, the Council, the Minister of State and I had a series of...
- Fishing Industry Development. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: As Deputy Penrose said, I had a long and detailed meeting with the Federation of Irish Fishermen in his home county of Westmeath a number of weeks ago. In the meantime, both the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, our officials and myself had the opportunity to meet its members on a number of occasions and both before and after the Council of Ministers meeting. One of the issues highlighted...
- Fishing Industry Development. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: Regarding the latter points, as I mentioned earlier, the IUU regulation has been adopted at the Fisheries Council. Regarding a level playing field, we secured a commitment from Commissioner Borg that he would examine a specific proposal from Ireland that would help strengthen the tools available to coastal states such as Ireland to control fishing activity in our exclusive fishery zones....
- Fishing Industry Development. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: No. The offers have gone out to the individual vessel owners. A total of â¬42 million has gone outââ
- Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: My Department implements a broad range of schemes and services in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and food processing sectors. It is responsible for voted expenditure of some â¬1.9 billion in 2008 and also acts as paying agency in respect of EU funding for direct payments to farmers and market supports which total about â¬1.4 billion. A high proportion of the Department's Vote relates...
- Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: ââtogether account for over â¬250 million of the Department's Vote this year to ensure that investment in the farming, forestry, fisheries and food sectors continues to play a critical role in encouraging innovation, improving competitiveness and ensuring protection of the environment. Expenditure, receipts and the achievement of key outputs are very closely monitored on an ongoing basis...
- Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: I will come back to Deputy Creed with more detail. I will write to him during the week because I do not have statistics with me on the take-up there may have been in the meantime since he tabled that parliamentary question. I assure him that I met individual farmers and others familiar with the sheep sector. There are concerns about the decline in numbers for some time but, thankfully,...
- Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: I also had discussions with Ministers from the other devolved administrations in our neighbouring island on a number of issues. We have been making arrangements to hold formal meetings â these were more informal meetings. One of the issues we will have down for discussion at the next North-South Ministerial Conference on Agriculture that comes up relatively shortly is the issue of sheep...
- Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: As Deputy Creed will be aware, we review on an ongoing basis the particular demands on each of the subheads in the Department. Sometimes there can be pressure on one subhead. Other times there can be a reduced draw down on another subhead. At times, in my limited knowledge of Government finances, there can be a transfer between subheads within a Department depending on the particular...
- Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)
Brendan Smith: I will not mislead Deputy Creed or any Member of the House. I do not know what draw down there has been on that particular scheme to date.