Results 20,661-20,680 of 24,049 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tillage Sector (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: If the Deputy wants to speak to herself, she can go off and shout on local radio. I am working to try to support the sector through a difficult year and to make sure it grows in the future and will continue to do so.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Deputy is aware, the targeted agriculture modernisation scheme, TAMS, 3 provides grants to farmers to build or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. There is an indicative budget of €370 million available for the period 2022 to 2027, whereby all investments are linked to climate, environment or animal welfare. Following the success of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It will be concluded in time for the next opening and I will make a decision in advance of that. That is what I have requested. There is massive work going on in the Department. The comment the Deputy made at the end of her response was a rather flippant one. There are a record number of applications in at the moment for TAMS 3, which shows the appetite for on-farm investment. We are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I already laid out the position that it was and remains my intention in terms of tranche two. Both the trailing shoe and the dribble bar are very expensive pieces of equipment and are very long-term investments. They are significant investments from the State's point of view in relation to TAMS, and a significant investment from a farmer's point of view as well. It is important we take...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Solar Energy Guidelines (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy for raising this question, for his work on this matter over the last number of months, and his engagement on it. Farm safety is an absolute priority for my Department and is always given considerable thought in the design of schemes. The new TAMS is aligned to our climate goals with enhanced support for farmers to invest in renewable energy solutions on their farms....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Solar Energy Guidelines (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I am not sure if we have such a list but I will inquire into that and facilitate a further engagement between Deputy Stanton and the Department on this matter. It is important that we do have the full oversight and view of the terms, conditions and safeguards regarding how this work is carried out. In my response I outlined the registration courses and the qualifications required. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Solar Energy Guidelines (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: We have to make sure these jobs are done right. It is a very significant investment from a Government point of view of 60% grant aid. There is a separate grant ceiling as well from any other investment a farmer might make. It is a significant investment that is undertaken by the farmer also. We are talking about power generation and electricity and it is important that is done right...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this. I am aware there has been significant industry interest in the Deputy's constituency in the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, and that the Deputy is keen to ensure that continues to be facilitated. As the Deputy will be aware, ACRES is the central agri-environmental measure in Ireland's Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, strategic...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Regarding the terms and conditions of the scheme, it was laid out very clearly at the start that when plans were submitted, it would not be possible to change them. The logistical challenge of having to administer 46,000 this year, as opposed to 30,000 that had been planned for, puts additional pressure on the system. This is a real challenge. Where it is possible to do things, they have...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes, it is. The Department is working hard to ensure we pay as many as possible. Previously GLAS would have been at full tilt. During the latter stages of the GLAS programme where farmers would have been following through in terms of years three, four and five, the maximum payment rate that was achieved in any one year involved 85% of GLAS participants because there are always some...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Budget 2024 (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: My goal for budget 2024 is to support our farm and fishing families in every way possible.  The funding I negotiated and secured is in fact an increase in core funding year on year. It will support the sector’s environmental ambition and on-farm sustainability while at the same time supporting farmer incomes and providing vital infrastructure to support the development of our...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Budget 2024 (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It is a total misrepresentation to represent the withdrawal of BAR funding as a cut to the agriculture budget. That was always one-off funding over a period of two years. The deadline for the expenditure of that funding is the end of this year. I have worked to ensure every possible avenue to draw down that funding for both the fishing and agriculture sectors was found and to deliver it...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Budget 2024 (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: With regard to payments, this is the first year of a new CAP. All these schemes are new and have to be applied to for the first time. That includes what was the basic payments scheme, now the BISS. Back in March, I wrote to every single farmer to inform them of what the payment dates would be this year. All staff in the Department have been working hard to make sure those payment dates...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Industry (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Gender equality across all sectors, including agriculture, is a priority for the Government. I am very proud to have taken quantifiable steps to improve the visibility and representation of, and opportunities for, women in farming and agribusiness. I am very pleased that, for the first time, Ireland’s new CAP strategic plan includes a number of specific measures aimed at...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Industry (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Deputy Burke has put his finger on the outstanding challenge as regards the work we have to do in agriculture and farming to make sure the progress we have seen across many other areas of the agrifood sector is reflected at farm level and we start to see a higher proportion of women taking up the role of farm holder and farming within the farm gates. If you call a vet to your farm, it is now...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Industry (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: That is something we are looking at. We are trying to encourage partnerships. It is something we want to make real progress on. If the Deputy has any advice, our ears and our minds are very much open with regard to what steps we can take. The Women in Agriculture conference dialogue, which was led out by the former Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan, earlier this year, had...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Industry (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank Deputy Durkan for the question. As he knows well and would agree with me, the agrifood sector is our most important indigenous exporting sector, playing a vital role in our economy. It accounts for 6.7% of modified gross national income, employing some 165,000 people or 7% in total of the workforce. 12 o’clock The sector has ambitions to increase the value of agrifood...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Unfortunately, there is not any possibility to revisit it because the scheme was launched, approved, and the applications closed. The scheme is closing out now and all the funding must be spent by the end of this year. We are down to the last four or five boats completing the process so there simply is not the scope to do what Senator O'Donovan asks. I outlined the situation with regard to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Usage (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Let me be very clear in stating that securing the continued opportunity to avail of a nitrates directive for Irish farmers is Government policy. It was in the last Programme for Government and remains a policy position. I will work with farmers to improve water quality which is key to securing that derogation in the next round of negotiations and into the future. Ireland's current...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Climate Change Policy (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: On the marine side, I am happy to see that the transition of Ireland’s seafood sector to carbon neutrality has already commenced. Important developments supporting this transition are emerging at European level as part of the review of the Common Fisheries Policy and the associated package of measures to improve the sustainability and resilience of the EU fisheries and aquaculture...