Results 23,781-23,800 of 23,892 for speaker:Michael Healy-Rae
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: Yes, and I am making the point that I am not responsible for things that went on before I arrived.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: Yes. If Senator Collins can tell me who gets paid any sum of money before they do any type of work, I ask her to quote the details to me because I do not know who gets money upfront for doing anything.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: If I applied for a TAMS grant, I could only get paid when I produced my receipt. You have to produce the goods, do the work and produce the receipts. Nobody gets paid upfront under any scheme.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: The only answer I can give on this is where we are today. We have our checks in place now. We are on top of safeguarding imports now. Like everything in life, if mistakes were made they were made. We are where we are . We are trying to help the people now. There are good schemes in place now. That is all I can say.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: The answer to that is they will leave a lot of money after them if they leave the ground idle. No more than anything, it is-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: The money is there for them.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: If they can come along and clear the ground, they will get paid for clearing it. If they then replant it, they will get paid for doing so. There is then €5,000 per hectare available to them tax-free. That is there waiting for them.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: Can I answer Senator Collins in a very practical way? If a person has a hectare of ground that has ash dieback on it, if it is idle right now and if there is a pot of €10,000 available to use in some shape or fashion to clear it, plant it and then have money for themselves out of it that would be tax-free, it would be awfully negative for that person to decide to continue to leave the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: For goodness-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: Well, I am sorry, because I do know.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: I say that with absolute surety.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: If a person would not have money left over out of €10,000 per hectare, there would be something radically wrong.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: I can tell Senator Collins what would actually happen, and I will be as accurate as possible. There would be €5,000 per hectare for themselves, which would be tax-free. Why in the name of God in heaven would they leave the land idle? It would make no sense.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: I disagree with that.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: I just want to say also that the Department has been very proactive with regard to the beetle, Scotland and stopping the imports. We did everything we should have done at that time, and we were quick-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: I answered that question already. I will answer it again because I appreciate------
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: -----that Senator Collins was working in the Seanad. Yes, 100%, but you have to follow-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: We had a debate here about what peat is. Everybody in the room knows the type of ground I am speaking about. I never mentioned anything to the effect that we should plant on deep peat. I never said that. I stand over what-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: No. The Senator knows that the current rules and our guidelines stated that people can plant on ground that has up to 30 cm of peat on top of it.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Ash Dieback and Other Forestry Issues: Discussion (16 Jul 2025)
Michael Healy-Rae: Yes. The Senator knows that but-----