Results 5,161-5,180 of 18,459 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Written Answers — Agri-Food Industry: Agri-Food Industry (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: I propose to take Questions Nos. 147 and 187 together. For some months now, my Department has been working on the development of a new strategy for the period up to 2020 to ensure that the full potential of the agri-food and fishing sector is realised, as economic recovery proceeds. The preparatory work for this strategy is at an advanced stage as the Department in conjunction with relevant...

Written Answers — Farm Waste Management: Farm Waste Management (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: I propose to take Questions Nos.148 and 161 together. The first and second instalments of 40% under the farm waste management scheme have been paid or authorised for payment to all farmers who have been approved for payment under the scheme, to date. In the case of the second instalment of grant-aid paid to farmers under the scheme, this amounts to €239.6 million. The final instalment of...

Written Answers — Common Fisheries Policy: Common Fisheries Policy (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: I propose to take Questions Nos. 149 and 171 together. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fisheries policy of the European Union which was first put in place in 1983 and has been subject to reviews every ten years, the most recent in 2002 and the next is formally scheduled for 2012. I welcome the Commissions Green Paper on the reform of the CFP and acknowledge the importance of the...

Written Answers — Dairy Sector: Dairy Sector (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: I propose to take Questions Nos. 150 and 169 together. The EU Commission set up the high level expert group on milk last October, following a special Council of Ministers meeting where we had a thorough discussion on the need for measures to manage the dairy market in the period up to and beyond quota abolition in 2015. The group is being chaired by the Commission's Director General of...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: REPS 4 is a measure under the current Rural Development Programme 2007–13 and is subject to EU Regulations which require detailed administrative checks on all applications to be completed before the first payments issue. Payments issued in 2009 to those whose applications required no further examination following the administrative checks. However, queries arose on a significant number of...

Written Answers — Common Agricultural Policy: Common Agricultural Policy (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: I want to see simplification of measures and systems as a key plank in the CAP after 2013. I must be absolutely clear that this is about increased efficiency and does not involve any weakening of financial controls or reduced accountability. However, I believe there is too much bureaucracy and complexity in the CAP at present. Everyone, and most of all farmers, wants to see a CAP that is...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: The first payments for the 2009 scheme year issued on 18 December 2009, and payments have continued to issue in the meantime. To date, 9,823 REPS 4 participants have been paid in full. A further 4,508 have received the first phase of 75% of their payments and are due to receive the balance shortly. Payments will issue this week to approximately 1,300 participants. My Department continues...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: Mindful of the hardship and distress caused by the recent widespread flooding, on 27 November 2009 I announced the introduction of the Fodder Aid Scheme, targeted directly at those farmers who encountered damage to fodder in the affected areas. While I was very anxious that the funding reach the affected farmers as quickly as possible, it was essential that farmers demonstrate that their...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: Mindful of the hardship and distress caused by the recent widespread flooding, on 27 November 2009 I announced the introduction of the fodder aid scheme, targeted directly at those farmers who encountered damage to fodder in the affected areas. While I was very anxious that the funding reach the affected farmers as quickly as possible, it was essential that farmers demonstrate that their...

Written Answers — Agri-Food Sector: Agri-Food Sector (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: The 5% land area target is a national objective as part of the Programme for Government. I have taken various initiatives, and there are a number of measures in place, with a view to achieving this objective. The appointment of a new EU Commissioner for Agriculture will not impact directly on these initiatives. Nevertheless, I look forward to working closely with the new Commissioner on...

Written Answers — Rural Development: Rural Development (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: Ireland's amended rural development programme, including a new agri-environment scheme, was presented to the EU Rural Development Management Committee in Brussels on 20 January. This followed detailed and protracted discussions with the Commission. The committee agreed the programme and the Commission will now proceed to take a formal decision to approve it. This procedure is expected to...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: Mindful of the hardship and distress caused by the recent widespread flooding, on 27 November 2009 I announced the introduction of the fodder aid scheme, targeted directly at those farmers who encountered damage to fodder in the affected areas. While I was very anxious that the funding reach the affected farmers as quickly as possible, it was essential that farmers demonstrate that their...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: My Department introduced a pilot bioenergy scheme in 2007 to grant aid the cultivation of miscanthus and willow crops to produce feedstock for use in the bioenergy market. The maximum grant available to miscanthus growers is €1,450 per hectare (€587.04/acre) up to a ceiling of 30 hectares per applicant. The average payment made to miscanthus growers under the scheme was €9,800. In...

Written Answers — Dairy Sector: Dairy Sector (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: The international dairy industry continues to face serious challenges at present. Over the past couple of years we have witnessed extremes of volatility in dairy product prices on an unprecedented scale. Markets for dairy products remain fragile, primarily due to a collapse in demand caused by the global economic downturn. During 2007 dairy prices reached record high levels during the...

Written Answers — Organic Farming: Organic Farming (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: The renewed programme for Government includes a commitment to meeting the growing demand for domestically produced organic produce by providing adequate resources and supports for the achievement of the target of 5% land area in organic production, with a focus on import substitution in areas where Ireland is under-producing at present. The organic farming scheme, which was reopened at the...

Written Answers — Rural Development: Rural Development (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: The revised rural development programme setting out, inter alia, the details of the schemes referred to by the Deputy was approved by the EU Rural Development Management Committee at its meeting on 20 January 2010. The revised programme must now be formally approved by the European Commission and this is expected by the end of February. The roll-out of the various investment schemes will be...

Written Answers — Grocery Industry: Grocery Industry (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: As signalled by the Tánaiste, the intention is to implement a national code of practice for doing business in the grocery goods sector with a view to ensuring a fair trading relationship between retailers and their suppliers. The code will be initially on a voluntary basis. The EU Commission has also issued a communication on a better functioning food supply chain in Europe. As I said at...

Written Answers — Horticulture Sector: Horticulture Sector (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: Since Christmas Ireland has experienced very severe frost conditions which have resulted in losses to vegetable crops. The extent of losses is difficult to quantify at this stage. It would be influenced by the nature of the crop, its location and the extent to which it was exposed. My Department has received representations on behalf of growers in relation to the losses incurred and the...

Written Answers — Dairy Sector: Dairy Sector (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: Ireland's revised Rural Development Programme provides a number of new on farm investment schemes, including a new €45 million investment support scheme for young dairy farmers. These will be co-funded by the National Exchequer and from additional modulation arising from the CAP Health Check and from the European Economic Recovery Package. The Programme was approved by the EU Rural...

Written Answers — Cattle Prices: Cattle Prices (27 Jan 2010)

Brendan Smith: As the Deputy is aware, cattle prices are a matter for the processing industry and the farmers who supply it. Cattle prices are influenced by a variety of factors and it is impossible to definitively forecast how all these factors will interact over a given period. However, the key factors expected to influence the market environment for Irish beef in 2010 are the level of consumer demand and...