Results 4,401-4,420 of 4,472 for speaker:Martin Heydon

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Advertising (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: The information requested by the Deputy is being collated by the Department and a reply will be forwarded within 10 working days.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Expenditure (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 691 and 692 together. My Department has a Communications Unit which deals with a wide range of external communications matters, including press engagements, media events and public relations. My Department has engaged with companies that commonly provide public relations or media consultancy services and this the details of this are provided in the table...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Invasive Species Policy (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department is responsible for overseeing the control and the prevention of the spread of certain weeds under the Noxious Weeds Act, 1936. Under the Act, it is an offence not to prevent the spread of these weeds, which includes ragwort. My Department wrote to all Local Authorities, including Kerry County Council, in May 2025, reminding them of their obligations under the legislation...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Industry (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: The question of whether to accept a particular horse registration application is a matter for Horse Sport Ireland. Horse Sport Ireland may be contacted directly, at info@horsesportireland.ie or (045) 850 800).

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Diseases (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 695 and 696 together. Bovine TB is a challenging disease to control and eradicate. In recent years, bTB levels have continued to deteriorate, herd incidence has increased from 4.94% in 2023 to 6.04% in 2024. As of 29th June 2025, over a 12-month period we had a herd incidence of 6.40% with over 43,290 reactors. This disease is having an impact on our...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: The person named submitted a grant aid application for a roller on 8 July 2024 under the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (YFCIS), which is a measure under the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3). My Department issued an approval letter to proceed with the investment on 28 November 2024 and a claim for payment was subsequently received on 11 February 2025. ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Expenditure (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: The information requested is not readily available in the format sought by the Deputy. A response providing the requested information will be issued to the Deputy in 10 working days.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department takes the matter of animal welfare most seriously and responds to any reports of alleged animal cruelty or legislative non-compliance. The Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, provides a modern framework for regulating and applying standards in the area of animal health and welfare, for all animals. My Department is aware of this case but does not comment on individual cases. ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Supports (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department operates a wide range of schemes to support farmers in their farming businesses, including those with annual incomes under € 20,000. Funding is provided through Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 schemes operated under Ireland's CAP Strategic Plan (CSP). The many measures/schemes within the CSP have been designed to ensure that farmers, irrespective of scale, enterprise or land...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: An Independent Review Group was established in 2023 to review the supports available to Ash forest owners with Ash Dieback. The Group submitted a report with their findings to my Department and in response Government approval was secured for an Ash Dieback Action Plan which addresses all 13 of the Review Group's recommendations. It provides for, among other things, an additional...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: With regard to the specific requirements to rewet organic soils in agricultural use, the nature restoration regulation is quite clear that the obligation is on the state, not on landowners in relation to rewetting. The Government has been clear that any restoration measures that landowners choose to participate in will be completely voluntary. From the outset, the Government has...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: Work is ongoing in developing a verifiable framework for carbon farming at both at EU and national level. I welcome the recent carbon removals and carbon farming (CRCF) regulation (EU/2024/3012), creating the first EU-wide voluntary framework for certifying carbon removals and carbon farming across Europe. In addition, by 2026, the Commission will assess whether to expand the scope of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3) provides grants to farmers to build and/or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. More than 45,000 applications have been received across the first eight tranches of TAMS 3. This compares to 15,144 applications received over the same number of tranches in the 2014-2022 TAMS 2 scheme. Of the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Flood Relief Schemes (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: The unpredictable nature of extreme weather/flooding events and the resulting impact on agriculture does not lend itself to a ready made scheme template where local effects vary with the event. My Department in recent years has provided a number of schemes to support farmers who have been badly affected by extreme weather/flooding. These include the Shass Landslide, The Shannon Callows,...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Supports (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: In order for a farmer to avail of funding under CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) and nationally funded farm schemes, they may in the first instance be required to submit a valid BISS and other area based schemes application. This is an annual application submitted via my Department’s online system and provides details of the area farmed and the nature of farming undertaken by the applicant in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Supports (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department operates a wide range of schemes to ensure that farmers across all enterprise types receive targeted supports. Broadly there are three types of schemes; area based, livestock based and grants for farm modernisation. For any farmer wishing to apply for area based schemes they must submit an annual area based application by 15 May. This application allows the farmer to apply...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: The programme for Government "Securing our Future" contains a commitment to "examine a mechanism to engage with stakeholders on the design of national agriculture schemes." My Department is committed to ongoing contact and engagement with stakeholders on the design of both nationally funded and CAP funded schemes. In the case of nationally funded schemes, meetings were held earlier...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Supports (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: The new Programme for Government emphasises supporting intergenerational farm succession. Food Vision 2030, our shared strategy for the agri-food sector, highlights that ensuring generational renewal in farming is vital for the sector’s long-term viability and social sustainability in rural Ireland. The Succession Planning Advice Grant is a relatively new scheme launched in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 710 and 711 together. My colleague the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has policy and operational responsibility for employment permits. Arising from my ongoing engagement with sector stakeholders, my Department is in regular contact with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) regarding the labour shortages that exist...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Trade Agreements (8 Jul 2025)

Martin Heydon: Ireland has consistently highlighted that the EU trade agreement with Mercosur should include legally binding commitments on sustainability, including climate, biodiversity, and deforestation protections. As it stands, it is not clear that those legally binding assurances have been secured. I am also conscious that Irish and EU farmers are subject to complex regulations requiring them to...