Results 481-500 of 766 for speaker:Pippa Hackett

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Nov 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I accept there is an added cost for producers to import peat. If supply demands cannot be met by the extractors in Ireland, they have to look to alternative sources.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters (Resumed): Road Tolls (22 Nov 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this matter. In Ireland more than 80% of animal feed for ruminants is provided by grass, hay and silage, complemented where appropriate by compound feeds. From an animal feed perspective, the pig, poultry and dairy sectors in particular rely on high-protein feed rations that are primarily made up of soya bean and maize by-products. Ireland has a limited...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters (Resumed): Road Tolls (22 Nov 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I thank Senator Boyhan and I take his points on board. We have limited capacity to grow our own and more growing of our own is something that the Department has tried to support in the past year, as we cannot grow GM food in Ireland. In this regard the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, recently announced a second tillage incentive scheme which has as its focus the purpose of increasing the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters (Resumed): Agriculture Industry (22 Nov 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I thank Senator McGreehan for raising this issue, which is as close to her heart as it is to mine. The sheep sector is extremely important to the Cooley Peninsula and to County Louth as a whole. I agree wholeheartedly with all the positive benefits she has outlined in the context of wool. The production of wool is an important aspect of the agriculture industry. According to data from the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters (Resumed): Agriculture Industry (22 Nov 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I agree there is a great opportunity here. I recently saw some photos of what could have been an organic horticultural grower that was using wool in its polytunnels as the mulch and insulator, which it had bought from a neighbouring farmer, with nice symbiosis. That is just one example, and there are plenty of others throughout the country. I often get correspondence asking why we do not...

Forestry: Statements (24 Nov 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I am grateful for the invitation to address the House. I welcome the opportunity to speak to Members about forestry at a time governments across the globe are seeking to implement policy solutions to tackle the climate crisis. In recent years we have had our own crisis in the forestry sector, with particularly low planting rates. Today I will outline the Government's plans to reverse that...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2022)

Pippa Hackett: Tomorrow, we will shop. In fact, such is the pull of black Friday for Irish consumers that AIB recently suggested that over the next few days, we will shop at the rate of €18,000 per minute. I am planning to speak here for three minutes, and I will let you do the calculations yourselves. What is this draw to shopping? One theory is that our new purchase lifts our mood because it...

Forestry: Statements (24 Nov 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I thank Deputies for their contributions. It is clear that across the House, while there are different views on where we are headed, everyone wants the forestry sector to be successful. That is important to acknowledge. We need it to be a success in the context of the climate, nature, water quality, wood production, our people, the wider economy and rural areas. I welcome Deputy...

Seanad: Wood for Construction: Motion (30 Nov 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I thank Senators for their contributions. It is clear that there is support across the House for this Green Party motion. I thank the Seanad for the opportunity to welcome this Private Members' motion on the use of wood in construction. As the Minister of State with responsibility for land use, biodiversity and forestry, I recognise the important link between our forest resource and the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (8 Dec 2022)

Pippa Hackett: As a female farmer, I can say that there is not equality. That is the problem. There is not equality on the ground. Female farmers own 13% of the farms. There are cultural elements there and farms are not being left to girls, daughters and nieces, but it is difficult. There are amazing female farmers out there but it is difficult to be a female farmer. When one goes to the mart, it is...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare (Dogs) Bill 2022: Second Stage (14 Dec 2022)

Pippa Hackett: I thank Senator Boylan for bringing forward this legislation. At the outset I should say that the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, intended to take this item. I offered to replace him because the bell has been ringing non-stop in the Dáil and I wanted to facilitate the smooth passage of the debate and look after the welfare of my fellow Senators. That is why he is not here. It is worth...

Forestry Sector: Motion [Private Members] (24 Jan 2023)

Pippa Hackett: Genuine concerns about forestry have been raised in recent weeks, particularly in relation to the Irish Strategic Forestry Fund. It is because of those concerns that I am happy to have this opportunity to speak about the upcoming forestry programme, the forest strategy, and the Irish Strategic Forestry Fund. Government policy is to increase our forest estate from 11.6%, to 18% by 2050....

Forestry Sector: Motion [Private Members] (24 Jan 2023)

Pippa Hackett: Deputy Carthy wrote today in the Daily Mailthat this fund could receive up to €2 billion in subsidies from Irish taxpayers. This is utterly untrue. Deputy Carthy and his party know that this particular deal represents less than 1% of the Government’s targets for new forests by 2050. Sinn Féin knows that the vast majority of the €1.3 billion forestry programme will...

Forestry Sector: Motion [Private Members] (24 Jan 2023)

Pippa Hackett: What I will say about this motion, however, is that I welcome that we are discussing forestry and the role of Coillte more generally here this evening. In the context of Coillte’s further direction, it is important to mention first a key constraint on Coillte’s ability to engage in afforestation without private involvement, namely, EU state aid rules. A 2003 EU state aid...

Forestry Sector: Motion [Private Members] (24 Jan 2023)

Pippa Hackett: The fund will not seek to purchase any public lands and any land purchased by the fund, whether it is an existing forest or bare land, will already be in private ownership. Despite Deputy Boyd Barrett again repeating inaccurately that the fund could plant up to 100,000 ha of new forests, I want to clarify that this fund will plant roughly 3,500 ha over a five-year period, meaning an...

Forestry Sector: Motion [Private Members] (24 Jan 2023)

Pippa Hackett: For disposal.

Forestry Sector: Motion [Private Members] (24 Jan 2023)

Pippa Hackett: They are replanted. The trees that are cut down are replanted.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Forestry Sector (25 Jan 2023)

Pippa Hackett: I thank Senator Boyhan for his fair and measured observations of the forestry sector.He asked a few more questions than were in his original question but we will see how we get through them. I welcome the opportunity to update Senators on the progress of the new forestry programme and Coillte's plans to increase afforestation. As Members will know, afforestation levels in recent years have...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Forestry Sector (25 Jan 2023)

Pippa Hackett: Yes, we need to receive full state aid approval before we can fully get our forestry programme up and running. However, as I indicated, that does not stop any trees going in the ground. Anyone who has an existing licence can plant under the arrangements of the proposed new programme, and we have been given that permission. I understand we are finalising our over-and-back process with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Pippa Hackett: It was a similar timeline. It might have been a little earlier. As the Minister indicated, Coillte signed off on the deal on 18 December. Later that week, I received a letter stating that Coillte was hoping to announce the deal early in January.