Results 21,321-21,340 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Other Questions: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: Are the machines working here?

Other Questions: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: I would like to put on the record what the position is because many people have raised concerns with me about this issue. The relevant Oireachtas committee has referred the matter to the Competition Authority for examination. Mergers and acquisitions of businesses within the State are subject to a process of examination to ensure consumers or other businesses do not suffer, or that the...

Other Questions: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: We will work with the system. If the Competition Authority asks for our opinion on anything we will obviously give full details of our views from a policy viewpoint. However, there are dangers with Ministers getting involved in trying to impact on mergers. There is a State body that has a legal obligation to assess these things properly and make informed choices. We all call it the...

Other Questions: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: My Department can provide statistics and details, but I do not think it is qualified to make judgment calls on competition issues. That is what the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is there for. If they ask us for information or a policy perspective, we will of course give it to them. I cannot be more open than that.

Other Questions: Food Harvest 2020 Strategy (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: We do have, absolutely, and I think An Taisce is wrong on this issue. Food Wise 2025, the new ten-year strategy for the agri-food sector published in July 2015, builds on the successful vision of Food Harvest 2020. It identifies the opportunities and challenges facing the sector and provides an enabling strategy that will allow the sector to grow and prosper. Food Wise includes more...

Other Questions: Food Harvest 2020 Strategy (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: I do not disagree with a lot of what Deputy Wallace said. Agriculture does not have a free pass when it comes to climate change responsibilities. If we look at the performance of agriculture, we can see than since 1990, emissions from the agriculture sector in Ireland are down 10% while emissions from the transport sector are up 120%, so agriculture is on the right trajectory. Our dairy...

Other Questions: Food Harvest 2020 Strategy (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: Is the Deputy suggesting that-----

Other Questions: Food Harvest 2020 Strategy (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: Is the Deputy suggesting that we do away with the beef industry?

Other Questions: Food Harvest 2020 Strategy (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: We are not ignoring it. We are putting Ireland in a position to ensure we are the most efficient food producers on the planet using the natural resources we have available to us and that when we look at climate change targets - unlike the person quoted by the Deputy - we also insist on calculating what the actual carbon sink value of permanent pasture, the afforestation of agricultural land...

Other Questions: Food Harvest 2020 Strategy (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: We have. We have a very strong commitment to afforestation of agricultural land unlike practically any other country in the EU. We are spending not European money but Irish taxpayers' money - €119 million per year - planting trees on farmland between 6,000 ha. and 7,000 ha. This is a climate change strategy as well as a timber and afforestation strategy. We have challenges and...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sheepmeat Sector (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: The sheep sector is an important component of our agriculture sector and the third largest farming sector in Ireland with over 34,000 producers. 2015 proved to be another good year for the sheep sector. A combination of higher carcase weight (up 1.9%) and higher factory prices (up 1.5%) meant that output value of the sector increased by over 3%. Total sheepmeat exports increased by an...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Safety Standards (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: Primary responsibility under EU law for the safety and traceability of food placed on the market lies with food business operators (FBOs). The role of National Competent Agencies is to verify compliance with this requirement. This is done through a combination of inspecting establishments and auditing the food safety management systems which operators are required to have in place. These...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fish Quotas (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: The fishing opportunities available to vessels, including within the Irish Exclusive Fishery Zone (EFZ) for 2015 are set out on a stock by stock basis in Council Regulation (EU) 104/2015 dated 19 January 2015 as amended by Council Regulation 2015/523 of 25 March 2015, Council Regulation 2015/960 of 19th June and Council Regulation 2015/1961 of 26 October. The TAC and Quota Regulation for...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: GLAS Administration (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: I am pleased to say that 2015 has proved to be the most successful year ever in the development and implementation of any agri-environment scheme. The level of interest in the GLAS scheme has seen some 26,000 applications approved in first tranche of the GLAS scheme and the submission of more than 14,000 further applications under Tranche 2 of the Scheme which closed in mid-December 2015. ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Direct Payment Scheme Applications (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Teagasc Annual Review and Outlook for 2016 indicates that in 2015, the direct costs of production per kilo of lamb carcass produced on the least profitable sheep farms are almost 45 percent higher than the costs per kilo on the most profitable mid season lamb enterprises. Supports for the sector include direct payments, but also necessarily include a range of measures under the Rural...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Suckler Welfare Scheme Payments (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Irish suckler cow herd is a vital element of the Irish beef sector and supports for the sector include direct payments, in addition to a range of measures under the Rural Development Programme to improve efficiency and profitability on farm and to support environmentally sustainable production to help to address the challenge of profitability . These include the Basic Payments Scheme as...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Competition Law (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: The State, through the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, has an existing and well established infrastructure for oversight of competition matters and for dealing with allegations of anti-competitive practices or abuse of a dominant position. I understand that acquisitions or mergers of organisations with turnover exceeding certain statutory thresholds are required to be...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Exports (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: My Department’s role in relation to market access for beef is to ensure that Ireland’s control systems meet the veterinary and animal health requirements of the importing country. In that context Ireland was the first EU Member State to gain access to the US market in January 2015 , and remains the only Member state to have such access. Six plants are approved to export,...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Genomics Scheme (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Beef Data and Genomics Programme was launched on the 5th of May 2015 and forms a part of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme that runs from 2014 to 2020. The programme has funding of €300 million euro over its lifespan. The programme builds on previous investment in suckler farming through schemes such as the nationally funded Beef Data Programme and the Beef Genomics...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Industry (21 Jan 2016)

Simon Coveney: In my role of Minister I am and always have been conscious of the value of communication with all stakeholders in the beef sector. Improving communications between stakeholders is the reason I established the Beef Roundtable which continues to meet and discuss relevant strategic issues affecting the sector. However I have also been very clear that the Roundtable cannot act as a substitute for...