Results 4,721-4,740 of 7,789 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Hedgerows, Carbon and Biodiversity: Hedgerows Ireland (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Ms O'Sullivan is talking about the number of trees or hedgerows. For accuracy, one needs to know the area for each photograph. Devenish was at our committee. I understand that a new LiDAR system was announced by the Department. The OPW is conducting a LiDAR survey next year. It warned us to make sure that it was down to 10 sq. m or 14 sq. m, off the top of my head, because it will not be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Hedgerows, Carbon and Biodiversity: Hedgerows Ireland (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I will ask a few questions together as I want to let other members in. The witnesses talked about the importance of cattle not going where the roots of the trees are, especially around ditches. The clay in ditches will move down in soft weather and expose the root of a whitethorn. Would the witnesses recommend that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine help farmers fence on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Hedgerows, Carbon and Biodiversity: Hedgerows Ireland (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Are they whitethorns?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Hedgerows, Carbon and Biodiversity: Hedgerows Ireland (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: For farmers under the new eco-scheme, what would the witnesses recommend in the line of hedgerows to be sown? Would they put in laurels or whitethorn? What would they put in that would be fairly sound maintenance-wise?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I propose Senator Paul Daly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank the witnesses for coming in. I also thank those who are joining us online. My first question is to all of the witnesses. We talk about CAP as if we have to do X, Y and Z environmentally. In fairness, many farmers are doing things. Years ago the purpose of the CAP negotiations was to bring down the price the farmer was getting for the food he or she was producing but it was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: In regard to the species that are declining, are they migrating or resident species?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: With migrating birds, do we know it is a problem in the place they migrate to or if the problem is here? Can we pinpoint that here?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: What about the migrating ones?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: We talk about the bees. They are very important. As part of GLAS farmers had to put out sand in a field and leave it in the corner. Maybe farmers are arriving at the wrong conclusion but I have heard farmers say that if you put it on a field and there was a ditch beside it, while bees increased around it, some went into the ditch and other wildlife like badgers were coming along. Would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I wonder have any studies been done on how, when we try to improve a situation, some other part of wildlife harms what we were trying to achieve. That is what I am trying to get at.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have heard this from several farmers.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Regarding the corncrake, curlew and other birds, there were so many pairs around the country. How did they come to those figures? I know where there were curlews and they were never counted.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Has any study been done on the GLAS scheme, now rolled over, where the wild bird cover is sown every year? Has that helped the situation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I know a few people who have gone into the results-based environmental agri pilot, REAP. In fairness, it has an option of cutting the meadow from the middle out when cutting the silage, hay or whatever. It is at a later date in July.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I presume BirdWatch Ireland welcomes its inclusion in REAP.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I will turn to organics. There is a problem. Ms Duggan spoke of 20,000 ha of trees every year. Being realistic, we are allowed plant 4,500, is it, or was it 2,500 trees per ha last year? We should take an holistic view of this. There is an opportunity which I have spoken of many times. Just think that there are 130,000 farmers in Ireland. Each single farm payment application is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: But it is a minimum to qualify.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: And then you have to do your eco-scheme after that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Draft Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027: Discussion (9 Feb 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: On the forestry question, there is a win to be had there. I think the target in the climate action plan is 8,000 ha per year. I laid out some figures earlier and have spoken to several Ministers about this previously. If there are 130,000 farmers and they get 1,000 trees planted over the next few years under the next CAP, that equates to something like 45,000 to 55,000 ha. If the target...