Results 4,341-4,360 of 4,571 for speaker:Trevor Sargent
- Rural Environment Protection Scheme. (9 Apr 2009)
Trevor Sargent: Not unless the Deputy's party gets into power. With a view to maintaining the quality and delivery of the overall REPS service and to ensure that REPS planners conform to the highest standards of REPS planning, Teagasc proposes to offer a once-off opportunity to the contract planners to apply to Teagasc to become registered contractors and to provide a REPS planning service on terms and...
- Rural Environment Protection Scheme. (9 Apr 2009)
Trevor Sargent: The Deputy is talking up a crisis where there is none.
- Infrastructure Stimulus Package: Motion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2009)
Trevor Sargent: I am delighted we are debating this Fine Gael motion which calls for the creation of a new economy capable of thriving in the 21st century. Athough the motion does not mention peak oil specifically nor state that the fossil fuel energy we take for granted today will be unaffordable in the future, we must presume that what we are discussing in this debate is a post-carbon economy.
- Infrastructure Stimulus Package: Motion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2009)
Trevor Sargent: I had to put two and two together but it is not always clear.
- Infrastructure Stimulus Package: Motion (Resumed) (29 Apr 2009)
Trevor Sargent: I shall tell the Deputy the reason. This post-carbon economy needs to be able to support a sufficient number of jobs to meet its basic needs and must be run in a way that prevents problems whose cost will become unaffordable. With all this in mind I am delighted my position makes me responsible for the development of Ireland's food and drink industry. Recent figures show it had an annual...
- Animal Health Investigations. (29 Apr 2009)
Trevor Sargent: The animal health problems on the farm referred to by Deputy White have been ongoing for several years and relate mainly to ill-thrift and stunted growth of cattle on the farm in addition to reduced milk yield. I thank Deputy White for her tenacious determination to pursue this investigation in recent years on behalf of Mr. Dan Brennan, his family and the wider community of Castlecomer. The...
- Alternative Energy Projects. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: Energy crops are relatively new to Irish farmers and are being considered as an alternative to more conventional farm enterprises. The total area of energy crops in Ireland has increased steadily since 2003, supported by incentives introduced by the Government to stimulate cultivation and subsidies to increase the use of bio-fuel in the Irish transport market. In addition, the decoupling of...
- Alternative Energy Projects. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: I thank the Deputy for his answer and his question.
- Alternative Energy Projects. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: It is good to look at all the information. I am sorry I cannot give the Deputy exactly what he is looking for because when the information was being collected it was presented in the form of a visual table. He will get it but it is unfortunate that he does not have it before him now. This is the end of a three-year scheme. The Deputy is right to ask the questions, including whether we are...
- Alternative Energy Projects. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: For example, there has been a good take-up in miscanthus, more so than willow. Anecdotally, it seems people felt that miscanthus was less of a long-term commitment and that it could be grubbed up. However, the horticultural experts tell me that it is quite difficult to do so. Once one has miscanthus one has it for a while. One needs to be used to it and be sure of what one is doing....
- Alternative Energy Projects. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: I, too, will be asking some of those questions.
- Alternative Energy Projects. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: There are factors that have a bearing on the uptake and one, as Deputy Sherlock stated, is its economic viability. The recession has had many knock-on effects, one of which is the reduction in the price of oil. The viability of planting and processing a crop and getting a return for the labour means that naturally it will be difficult to compete with a product which has been lying in the...
- Food Labelling. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: Decisions on marketing campaigns are primarily a matter for Bord Bia. In this case I understand that Bord Bia considered that a fresh approach was needed to raise customer awareness and transparency on the origin of food and supplier information when eating out. Féile Bia membership, which peaked at 1,500 food service outlets, had decreased in recent years to very low levels of...
- Food Labelling. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: As I stated at the start, the decisions on this relate to Bord Bia so I will have to ask it to get an answer to the Deputy's question.
- Food Labelling. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: I do not have the information.
- Food Labelling. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: If I could finishing answering the question before the-----
- Food Labelling. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: It was not actually a point of order but I am not here to decide that.
- Food Labelling. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: It was nice to hear all the same.
- Food Labelling. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: I am trying to be helpful.
- Food Labelling. (20 May 2009)
Trevor Sargent: Deputy Sherlock did not, actually. If he had asked that question we could have got him the answer but-----