Results 3,221-3,240 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan

Future of Irish Farming: Motion. (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: That is my death knell. The Chair will be jealous.

Future of Irish Farming: Motion. (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "recognising the need to implement EU policies designed to ensure the development of agriculture and the agrifood sector in a sustainable and more market oriented manner, supports the Minister for Agriculture and Food in: —seeking the early agreement of the European Commission on her proposals...

Future of Irish Farming: Motion. (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: We achieved the highest level of participation in REPS with a record level of 48,000 farmers receiving nearly €283 million in payments in 2005. This is the highest figure since REPS began in 1994 and represents an increase of 36% on the previous year. A generous package of measures was provided for farmers in the 2006 budget. Farm-specific measures worth over €24 million will help meet...

Future of Irish Farming: Motion. (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: The court judgment and the threat of a fine were not the only things to be taken into consideration. Most Irish farmers depend on EU payments for their viability. When the current round of rural development measures was approved in 2000, the Commission insisted on an undertaking to implement the nitrates directive. The current round runs to the end of this year. It was made very clear to us...

Future of Irish Farming: Motion. (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: As the regulations were made before Christmas, we were able to start to pursue our case for a derogation for certain farmers from the organic nitrogen limit set by the directive with the Commission and other member states. The proposal is designed to allow farmers to operate, under appropriate conditions and controls, up to a level of 250 kg. This is particularly vital for farmers in the more...

Future of Irish Farming: Motion. (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: The outcome, from Ireland's perspective, was the best possible deal in the circumstances. The main features of the reform package have been widely publicised. We succeeded in having the proposals changed to provide a longer phasing-in period, as well as a number of options to enable the sector to adapt to the new regime. There will be a lower reduction in the support price of sugar than...

Future of Irish Farming: Motion. (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: I am prohibited from being definitive on the basis that I have not received the legal text. The question asked in the context of the political agreement prior to the decision of the Council in December was whether the sugar company has to pay a levy in the year it renounces the quota and the answer was no. The implication of that must be finalised in the legal texts. Political agreement will...

Future of Irish Farming: Motion. (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: It does not have to be paid in the year the company renounces the quota but other issues must be dealt with before a decision is reached on 20 and 21 February.

Future of Irish Farming: Motion. (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: I asked a particular question and received a particular reply. I cannot say anything definitive in a legal vacuum and without the availability of the legal texts. I have asked the sugar beet representatives to wait until 20 and 21 February when we will be a position to be definitive on that matter. Food labelling is of great importance. Consumers need to be provided with full information on...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: The single payment scheme is applicable to farmers who actively farmed during all or any of the three reference years 2000, 2001 and 2002, and who were paid livestock premia and/or arable aid payments in one or more of those years. As the person named did not benefit under any of the schemes, entitlements were not established for the single payment scheme. The person named submitted an...

Written Answers — Animal Feed Imports: Animal Feed Imports (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: The following table sets out the quantity of oilseed imported into Ireland for animal feed in the period 2003 to 2005 and the form in which it was imported. 2003 2004 2005 Total 000t 000t 000t 000t Extracted (removal of oil by solvent) 144 147 139 430 Expeller (Removal of oil by mechanical extraction) 5 0 0 5 Total 435 Some 86% of the above material was imported...

Written Answers — Pest Control: Pest Control (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: The New Zealand flatworm has been recorded in Britain and Ireland over the last ten years. These flatworms are predators of earthworms and there is no control method other than trapping and physically destroying them. As they do not affect plants or vector plant diseases they are not covered by plant health legislation that comes within the remit of my Department. There was a considerable...

Written Answers — Farm Retirement Scheme: Farm Retirement Scheme (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: My Department was aware, from an early stage in the negotiations leading to the introduction of the single payment scheme, of the possible implications for retired farmers who had leased their holdings. In so far as it proved possible in the context of the EU regulations governing the single payment scheme, and following lengthy discussions with the European Commission, provision was made...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: My Department was aware, from an early stage in the negotiations leading to the introduction of the single payment scheme, of the possible implications for retired farmers who had leased their holdings. In so far as it proved possible in the context of the EU regulations governing the single payment scheme, and following lengthy discussions with the European Commission, provision was made...

Written Answers — Farm Retirement Scheme: Farm Retirement Scheme (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: It is a requirement of the EU Council Regulations (2079/92 and 1257/99) under which the 1994 and 2000 early retirement schemes were introduced that the early retirement pension can be paid only as a supplement to any national retirement pension that the participant, and his or her spouse or partner in a joint management arrangement, receive. This means that the value of any national...

Written Answers — Farm Retirement Scheme: Farm Retirement Scheme (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: I am still considering certain aspects of the joint committee's report on the early retirement scheme and I expect to be in a position to make announcements in due course. A number of the committee's recommendations are, as I explained in my detailed response to the report, precluded by the EU regulations under which the current scheme and its predecessor are operated.

Written Answers — Animal Diseases: Animal Diseases (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: The current position is that there are no elephants in Dublin Zoo, although there are plans to acquire a group of three young elephants from Rotterdam Zoo. I understand that animals within this group are infected with the disease referred to, which is thought to be widespread in captive and free-ranging elephants worldwide. I am advised that this particular disease only affects elephants and,...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: Department records show that the person named was paid in full under the 2004 ewe premium scheme. Under that scheme, the person named has a quota of 25 ewes. Under the 2004 scheme, the person named applied on 25 ewes, which were accepted. Full payment issued as follows — a sum of €700 on 19 October 2004, 25 ewes @ €21/ewe premium, plus 25 @ €7/supplementary payment, formerly rural...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: I have had arrangements made to have a duplicate statement of entitlements issued to the person named.

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (7 Feb 2006)

Mary Coughlan: Article 10 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 provides for the modulation and reduction in the amount of each payment under the single payment scheme, as follows — 3% in 2005, 4% in 2006 and 5% in 2007 and subsequent years. At least 80% of the total amounts generated are available to fund rural development measures. Article 12 of the Council regulation provides for the payment of an...