Results 221-240 of 766 for speaker:Pippa Hackett

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Action Plan (9 Dec 2021)

Pippa Hackett: There is no doubt but that there are some significant challenges ahead in getting farmers and landowners engaged in planting. We are looking at incentivising small-scale planting. These would be non-commercial plantations of native species. These could be counted towards our carbon inventory. I am hopeful that we will have something on that very soon and that we will be able to roll out...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Action Plan (9 Dec 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I do not have a date for the annex. I hope it will be published in the coming weeks.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Forestry Sector (9 Dec 2021)

Pippa Hackett: The supply of timber this time last year was a very significant worry for the sector. There was deep concern among sawmills about where their supply would come from. I am pleased to say that in the past 12 months we have worked really hard to make significant improvements in that regard. Each week the Department publishes extensive information on forestry licensing and forestry-related...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Forestry Sector (9 Dec 2021)

Pippa Hackett: Certainly, that is the intent. As the years will progress, we know there will be a significant volume of timber to come onto the market. We have to match our licensing capabilities with that to be able to deliver that. We sometimes hear the discussion of Coillte felling licences versus the private side. As a note for this year, Coillte tends to submit its felling licences in batches,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Forestry Sector (9 Dec 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I do not have the specific figures to hand. We are a massive net exporter of timber products. I think we export 90% of what we produce in Ireland. That is a credit to the sawmill and the wider sector, and the landowners and farmers who grow the trees and produce them. I will get the employment and value figures sent on to the Deputy.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Dec 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I echo the Christmas wishes to the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas, including my Senator colleagues, their staff, families and friends. I hope they have a good one. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit my home county of Mayo thanks to an old national school friend from Ballindine, Sabina Trench, who is now the CEO of South West Mayo Development Company. We have known each other...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jan 2022)

Pippa Hackett: There is much optimism around at the moment. It is a new year and green shoots are already appearing, while the crisis of Covid is hopefully showing signs of disappearing. Behind the optimism, there still lurks another crisis which shows no sign of going anywhere, the climate and biodiversity one. We are all very aware of it but, understandably, we wonder what we can do about it. One...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Forestry Sector (2 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I thank Senator Conway for bringing forward this Commencement matter and giving me the opportunity to discuss some of the current arrangements relating to forest licensing and timber transport. Forestry plays a very important role in our rural economy and in climate change mitigation efforts and supports thousands of local rural jobs, directly and indirectly. Following recent improvements...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Forestry Sector (2 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I accept the Senator's concerns. In parts of my constituency, roads are founded on peat as well and it is a problem for any transport, not just timber transport but also agricultural transport and movements. However, the management of public roads is outside the remit of my Department. We try to operate the licence consent and grant schemes and to improve the communication with the public...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Forestry Sector (2 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: Perhaps that is worth considering.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (2 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: It is great to be in the Seanad to speak. Spring is in the air and it is a time of renewal. A great new energy is rising. It is a time of planting and many farmers throughout the country will shortly begin to sow seeds. Calving and lambing are under way, the days are lengthening and there is evidence of new growth. Imbolc is also about the seeds of new ideas. We are one of the world's...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Second Stage (8 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I am pleased to be here to introduce the Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021. The Bill went through all five Stages in the Dáil, and pre-legislative scrutiny before that, and is now before the Seanad. The Title of the legislation was changed on Committee Stage in the Dáil to the Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Second Stage (8 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I thank all the Senators for their constructive feedback and their support for the Bill. There are two main issues here and the forestry aspect was added on Committee Stage in the Dáil, for a number of reasons. The main reason related to the fact the Bill was coming from the Department at which I am Minister of State and it was not going to be easy to attach the forestry aspect to a...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: This morning, the Minister for Agriculture announced the launch of a tender process for the management of co-operation projects as part of the CAP's agri-environmental scheme. That all sounds like a bit of a mouthful but what it actually means is that we are on the cusp of doing things in a different way - a way I believe will be hugely beneficial to the environment, land and farmers....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Forestry Sector (10 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I thank the Deputy. The question he has asked is not the one I have on my page. Perhaps we have moved away from the question that was submitted but that is fine and we can deal with both.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Forestry Sector (10 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: The Deputy has asked about increase in the cost of living. The question I was provided with related to whether the costs of maintaining forests in the first four years have gone up. I understood the Deputy was referring to the general cost of participation in the forestry schemes. That is something which is under general review under Project Woodland. The reference to four years is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Forestry Sector (10 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: SI thank the Deputy. To clarify, the ambition of more than 1,040 licences equates to more than 8,000 ha of afforestation. The concern is that we are issuing afforestation licences and they are not being taken up. Currently, in excess of 5,000 ha of afforestation licences have been issued but have not been planted. The ambition is there. It falls on us all to make a concerted effort to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Forestry Sector (10 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: It comes down to the fact that the ambitions are there. The rate of planting is a big concern. My Department has engaged with the forestry companies as to why their clients are not planting. We are also going to write to the holders of afforestation licences, that is, those who have been in receipt of a licence for more than six months, to ascertain one on one what the issues are and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Organic Farming (10 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I thank Deputy Carthy for the acknowledgement of the scheme as it is. I am fully committed to the development of the organic sector in Ireland, which is why the organic farming scheme was reopened this week for the second year in a row. That has been a long time coming. An increase of €5 million has been secured in the budget allocation for the scheme this year. Again, this...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Organic Farming (10 Feb 2022)

Pippa Hackett: My understanding is that the rate is during the period of the CAP to the end 2027. At that stage it would be in conversion and organically farmed land. That is the ambition. If we go beyond that, I will certainly be even more excited about it. There is an issue at the moment and the Deputy is correct. The levels are painfully low given our wonderful agricultural nation as a whole. To...