Results 4,581-4,600 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Fisheries Regulations (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: The EU cod recovery plan, Regulation 2342/2008, established a long-term plan for cod stock, covering the setting of total allowable catches, TACs, and quotas each year, and limiting effort in terms of time spent fishing at sea in each area. The areas covered of interest to Ireland are the Irish Sea and area VIa, which is west of Scotland and north-west of Ireland. Under the cod recovery...

Fisheries Regulations (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: British boats may be fishing, but they have not fully got around the system yet. What has happened here is that the European Commission introduced a regulation on 23 November implementing cuts to the allocation of fishing effort to certain member states, and the UK has not accepted the Commission's assessment of fishing effort used and the quantity of effort available as set down in that...

Fisheries Regulations (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: For the record, I already met with industry representatives on this issue either last week or at the end of the previous week - I cannot remember - and we went through the issues in detail in preparation for the Council meeting this week. They know my views on this and they know I am not happy about it. We cannot have different treatment for different countries in the same waters. However,...

Departmental Properties (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: I have a long reply here which I will not read out, because I want to deal with the issue head-on. The Deputy will be aware of much of what is in the reply. Essentially, we have contractual arrangements with the people who lease properties within fisheries harbours that are owned by my Department, and each case must be dealt with on an individual basis. Most rental leases that were...

Departmental Properties (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: I will try to be helpful on this but a number of important things must be said. First, if there are large arrears outstanding, it is difficult for me to examine a new mechanism for calculating rent until those arrears are paid or there is an agreed payment plan in place to pay them. Nobody should hold back on paying arrears in the expectation of some type of amnesty because we cannot do...

Departmental Properties (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: We need to be careful about some things in this regard. First, anything we do sets a precedent. I cannot have a situation where there will be an expectation that everybody's rent in fisheries harbours will be reduced dramatically. That will not happen. My commitment, however, is that I will not force people who cannot afford it to continue to pay rates that are above what the going rate...

Farm Safety (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: At this point in 2011 there have been 25 fatalities recorded in the agriculture sector. This figure constitutes half of all workplace fatalities, 52, for 2010 which unfortunately follows the trend seen in 2010, when 26 people lost their lives in agriculture as a result of a farming accident. Therefore, 6% to 7% of the working population had to deal with the tragedy of half of all workplace...

Farm Safety (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: The key issue here is to get people to change their attitude. Farm safety is not like workplace safety in a factory or an office. A farm is a person's land and their home. Farmers often farm alone; 14 and 15 year olds often drive huge machinery around farmyards and across fields. They might have to hitch up trailers containing 25 to 30 tonnes of grain. Farms are family operations and we...

Farm Safety (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: People might be surprised to hear other countries have just as bad a record as we have. Ireland is not in the bottom tier of the European Union in terms of accidents on farms. Some countries, particularly Scandinavian countries, have been very successful in dealing with the issue. If one compares the rate of accidents on construction sites per capita - the numbers are down because there...

Farm Safety (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy knows the HSA is under the remit of the Department of the Minister, Deputy Bruton. We have linked in with it in a very serious way. It is also part of the farm partnership response to safety and is working with farm organisations and a series of other stakeholders. The impression I got from the various conferences it held this year and the supportive advertising campaign it...

Marine Industry (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: I understand the Deputy is referring to the review of herring stocks management arrangements. Earlier this year I asked the fishing industry and other interested parties to make proposals on the future management arrangements for all Irish herring fisheries, the Celtic Sea stock, the stocks off the north-west coast and the Atlanto-Scandian stock. For 2011, Ireland has a quota of 11,407...

Marine Industry (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: We hope to return to the industry with my preferred option. Given the submissions on this issue it is impossible to keep everybody happy. Some people are diametrically opposed. Some want stocks to be managed on the basis that only people with a track record will have access to stock quota but others want full access for everybody. I will have to make a judgment call on that, which will...

Food Industry (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 14 together. This about making Food Harvest 2020 happen and what we are doing to make the ambitious targets a reality. Food Harvest 2020, which I always acknowledge was originally put in place by the previous Government and which I have taken on and intend to implement in full, plans to achieve export targets of €12 billion by 2020, which is a 42%...

Food Industry (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: Deputy Heydon makes a fair point. I am not pretending there is some type of miracle solution to introduce economies of scale into Irish farming. What we are essentially trying to do is to keep intact the family farm ownership structure that prevails in rural areas. I am very wedded to that system; the heartbeat of rural Ireland is family ownership of farms. At the same time, we can...

Food Industry (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: I got almost everything I asked for from the Department of Finance in this budget. The Minister, Deputy Michael Noonan, and his team have shown a great willingness to respond to my Department's efforts to make farming more dynamic in terms of the business of farming and the productivity thereof. However, there is always more to do. For example, I would like to see more incentives to...

Food Industry (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: I am pleased the Deputy raised the issue of the disadvantaged areas scheme, DAS, which I meant to return to in response to Deputy Moynihan's earlier question. We are building an appeals mechanism into the qualification criteria for DAS in order to take account of cases where there is a genuine reason for a low stocking rate. In such instances, people will be able to appeal a decision and...

Written Answers — Agri-Food Industry: Agri-Food Industry (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: I believe there is a good commitment within the EU to a strong agri-food sector and an increased recognition of the importance of the sector's contribution to the achievement of economic, social and environmental objectives. In developing the EU2020 strategy for recovery and growth in Europe, Heads of State and Government in the European Council recognised this contribution concluding that...

Written Answers — Fur Farming: Fur Farming (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: I have established a Review Group in my Department to review all aspects of fur farming. The terms of reference of the group are as follows: Ø To review fur farming in Ireland taking into account existing legislative provisions for the licensing of mink farming Ø To comment on the economic benefits of the sector Ø To consider the effectiveness of existing welfare controls, and Ø ...

Written Answers — Milk Quota: Milk Quota (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: I am satisfied that the removal of milk quotas in 2015 represents a major opportunity for the Irish dairy sector to expand production, increase its contribution to the Irish economy and improve returns to dairy farmers. The Deputy will appreciate that the significant challenge facing the Government in the context of Budget 2012 was to address the very large deficit the public finances while...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (14 Dec 2011)

Simon Coveney: I am committed to continuing the path set out in Food Harvest 2020 for the development of the seafood sector in Ireland. Food Harvest identifies the potential of the seafood industry to increase employment by 3,000 to 14,000 full time equivalent jobs by 2020, mostly in peripheral coastal communities. The strategy set out in Food Harvest involves the catching, processing and value adding and...