Results 5,601-5,620 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: Under the 2006 Single Payment Scheme, payments worth €1.197 billion have been made to 123,300 applicants, who have declared eligible hectares and have Entitlements under the Scheme, representing over 97% of applicants. Full payment has issued to some 122,200 farmers, while a further 1,100 farmers have received the 50% Advance Payment. Delays in processing can be caused by many factors,...

Written Answers — Animal Welfare: Animal Welfare (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: My Department has statutory responsibility for the welfare and protection of farmed animals under the Protection of Animals Kept for Farming Purposes Act, 1984, and the European Communities (Protection of Animals Kept for Farming Purposes) Regulations, 2006, (SI No 705 of 2006). The Scientific Advisory Committee on Animal Health and Welfare was established in 2002. It is independently...

Written Answers — Farm Inspections: Farm Inspections (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The policy of my Department towards on-farm inspection has been to give advance notification of up to 48 hours in all cases. This policy of systematic pre-announcement of inspections was questioned by the European Commission in July 2006 and its unacceptability was conveyed to my Department in a formal communication in August. As a result, my Department was obliged to agree to a proportion...

Written Answers — Milk Quota: Milk Quota (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The current Milk Quota system was extended to 2014/15 as part of the Mid Term Reform of the CAP in 2003. The so called 'health check' to be carried out by the Commission in 2008 will consider the future of quotas as part of its overall examination of the CAP instruments. It is clear that detailed consideration is being given at Commission level on the future of the quota regime in the...

Written Answers — Animal Diseases: Animal Diseases (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: Since the first case of equine infections anaemia, or 'swamp fever', was confirmed in June 2006, a total of twenty-eight cases have been confirmed, the most recent on 10 December 2006. The increasing intervals between cases, over eight weeks since the last case, and the amount of blood testing being done — over 14,000 samples tested in January — give increasing confidence that the...

Written Answers — Organic Farming: Organic Farming (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: I am strongly committed to the development of the organic sector in Ireland. While the sector in Ireland is still small by European standards, it is growing. The total area in conversion or with full organic status rose by 15% in 2005 and by a further 14% in 2006. My Department already provides substantial financial supports for organic producers, through the Rural Environment Protection...

Written Answers — Alternative Farm Enterprises: Alternative Farm Enterprises (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: Wood biomass is one of the most versatile of renewable energy sources and has the potential to play a major role in Ireland's future energy strategy. Wood energy, in the form of logs, chip and pellet, is renewable, carbon neutral, sustainable and can be produced locally. Solid biomass, mainly in the form of solid wood, is already the largest source of renewable energy in Ireland, accounting...

Written Answers — Agrifood Industry: Agrifood Industry (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The Irish food and drink industry has made significant strides over the past decade consolidating itself as the key indigenous industry. The value of exports during 2006 are estimated to have grown by 10% and exceeded €8 billion for the first time. The landscape in which the industry operates is changing rapidly. All elements of the landscape including policy, the regulatory environment,...

Written Answers — National Climate Change Strategy: National Climate Change Strategy (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: My Department is represented on the inter-Departmental team established to oversee implementation of the National Climate Change Strategy and is taking an active part in the current review of the Strategy. My Department has identified, for consideration by stakeholders, a range of potential greenhouse gas reduction measures in the agriculture area. These potential measures include the...

Written Answers — Bovine Disease Controls: Bovine Disease Controls (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: 41 cases of BSE were confirmed in 2006. The following table gives the location of each case by county. There has been a dramatic reduction in the incidence of BSE in Ireland. The number of cases peaked in 2002 at 333, following the introduction of mass surveillance at slaughter plants and knackeries in 2001. Almost 700,000 animals are tested per annum in Ireland under this surveillance...

Written Answers — Official Travel: Official Travel (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: I travelled to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as part of the recent trade delegation there led by An Taoiseach. Saudi Arabia imposed a ban on the importation of beef from Ireland and other EU countries in December 2000, due to concern about BSE. In the years preceding the ban, a substantial trade had developed in the export of Irish beef to Saudi Arabia which was...

Written Answers — Biotechnological Inventions: Biotechnological Inventions (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The potential for plant derived plastics is something that is recognised both here in Ireland and at EU level. I am aware that some supermarket chains plan to use packaging materials from sustainable or recycled sources. This can only be good news for the consumer and the environment. It also represents good news for farmers as suppliers of raw materials. My Department's public good...

Written Answers — Agrifood Industry: Agrifood Industry (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The fresh fruit and vegetable sector is a very important sector that is capable of further substantial growth and development. Last year farm gate production was valued at around €230m with the domestic retail market valued at around €1 billion. However, producers have for some time faced strong pressure from the highly concentrated retail chains, which play a major role in setting...

Written Answers — Agrifood Industry: Agrifood Industry (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: I have no role in establishing contractual relationships between multiple retail buyers and growers of fresh produce and a move on my part to do so could contravene EU competition law. However, I am acutely aware of the difficulties faced by many producers in trying to meet the higher and higher quality standards and conditions of supply being demanded by retailers but at lower prices. This...

Written Answers — Farm Safety: Farm Safety (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: I am very concerned about the level of safety on our farms and I support wholeheartedly the work of the Health and Safety Authority which is the State Authority charged with overall responsibility for promotion of workplace health and safety. Steps I have recently taken to combat the number of farm accidents include the following: The Minister for Labour Affairs and I launched at the World...

Written Answers — Direct Payment Schemes: Direct Payment Schemes (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The position is that the Single Payment Scheme is applicable to farmers who farmed during the three-year reference period 2000-2002, who drew down livestock or Arable Aid premia in at least one of those years and who continued to farm in 2005. The Single Payment Scheme entitlements established for individual farmers, therefore, are a true reflection of their farming activity and premia...

Written Answers — Organic Farming: Organic Farming (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The proposed new EU Regulation on organic production states unequivocally that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and products produced from or by GMOs may not be used as food, feed, processing aids, plant protection products, fertilisers, soil conditioners, seeds, vegetative propagating material, micro-organisms and animals in organic production. However the Regulation recognises that...

Written Answers — Dairy Sector: Dairy Sector (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 155 and 169 together. Despite the challenges brought about by the further implementation of the Mid Term Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, 2006 turned out to be a successful year for the dairy sector. Exports increased in value to €2.08 billion, a rise of 4% compared with 2005. This rise in value was due to strong returns particularly for protein...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The implementation of the Nitrates Directive is a matter in the first instance for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. A number of measures to help farmers meet their obligations under the Regulations are already in place. In accordance with the Sustaining Progress agreement, improvements to the Farm Waste Management Scheme and the Dairy Hygiene Scheme and...

Written Answers — Sugar Beet Industry: Sugar Beet Industry (6 Feb 2007)

Mary Coughlan: Under the EU scheme for the restructuring of the sugar industry, the maximum rate of restructuring aid is available where the sugar processor undertakes to fully dismantle the redundant sugar plant. Greencore, following its decision to cease sugar processing in Ireland last year, submitted an aid application for the maximum rate of aid and, accordingly, this entails full dismantling of the...