Results 5,741-5,760 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Rural Environment Protection Scheme (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: If Deputy Moynihan wants to talk to me afterwards, I will happily clarify anything for him.

Agri-Environment Option Scheme (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: The agri-environment option scheme - or AEOS, which we have just been talking about - is a targeted agri-environment scheme that is part-funded from modulation funds under the CAP health check. As currently framed, the scheme specifically targets three challenges that have been assigned the highest priority at European level. As I outlined in my reply to Question No. 1, these include...

Agri-Environment Option Scheme (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for those questions because they give me an opportunity to clarify a number of matters on which I believe there has been some confusion. It is true to say that no scheme has been opened yet but I have said consistently since budget day that I hope to open a much more limited scheme. It is important, even if it is only a skeleton scheme, that we keep environmental schemes...

Agri-Environment Option Scheme (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: We are trying to obey the Ceann Comhairle.

Animal Welfare (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: I thank Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan for raising this issue again. Earlier this year I responded in detail to questions put down by the Deputy regarding the matters to which she now refers, which is the welfare of horses. I explained, in my earlier replies to the Deputy, my Department's responsibilities with regard to the welfare of horses and the options open to an individual should he or she...

Animal Welfare (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: I have written to the gentleman concerned. I know the case the Deputy is talking about. He needs to go to the Garda, which has legal responsibility in that regard. I have outlined that to him in some detail in written correspondence and, to be fair, I think the previous Minister probably did so too. I accept that the legislation in place to deal with animal cruelty, codes of practice or...

Animal Welfare (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: -----but I am trying to get balanced legislation that takes account of farming and hunting practices in a reasonable way, but also provides appropriate protection for animals to ensure that we do not have either wanton or accidental cruelty because neither is acceptable.

Animal Welfare (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: Nobody likes to see somebody chasing a cause for a long time and not being able to get adequate answers. I am sure he is a genuine person but the appropriate line of investigation here, if the Deputy wants to call it that, and this is my understanding having asked for legal advice on it, is through the Garda. I am not sure whether he has gone down that road but to be fair to Horse Racing...

Fisheries Protection (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: I have set out for the House on a number of occasions the situation concerning the breakdown of negotiations for the management of mackerel in the north-east Atlantic. Mackerel is Ireland's most important fishery economically and any threat to its well-being is a matter of serious concern to me. The north-east Atlantic mackerel fishery, if fished within recommended levels, is worth...

Fisheries Protection (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: Ireland is setting the pace on this issue and we are being supported by other countries and the Commissioner. Talks after talks have broken down when the European Union offered what many, including Ireland, regarded as overly generous solutions for Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Deputy Brown is correct that Iceland has little or no track record while the Faroe Islands have a bigger track...

Milk Quota (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: Under the milk quota regulations the approximately 80 registered purchasers of milk are obliged on 31 March each year, which is the end of the milk quota year, to draw up a statement for each of the 18,250 milk producers that supply milk to them. The statement should set out, as a minimum, the quantity and fat content of the milk delivered by each producer during the quota year. Each...

Milk Quota (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: This question has been asked on many occasions by my colleague. We are already doing a great deal on this issue. I have met a series of Ministers on a bilateral basis to try to build a coalition on the need to change policy. The so-called soft landing approach is not working for Ireland or for the Netherlands, Denmark, Luxembourg and a number of other countries that are also over quota and...

Fisheries Protection (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: This is a particulary sensitive issue. Irish vessels are currently precluded from landing sea bass under the Bass (Conservation of Stocks) Regulations 2006, S.I. No. 230 of 2006, and the Bass (Restriction on Sale) Regulations 2007, S.I. No. 367 of 2007. The complete ban for the commercial fishing of sea bass applies to Irish fishing vessels in all areas. These regulations were introduced...

Fisheries Protection (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: It is much further out at sea.

Fisheries Protection (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: These are fair questions. We are trying to take a cautious approach towards this stock because it is very vulnerable. If we start catching them commercially again, we could do huge damage and they would take a very long time to recover. They do not grow quickly, unlike other stock that can recover quickly. It is not just the inshore fishermen and the smaller boats that are concerned about...

Fisheries Protection (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: It is important to state that even though I have responsibility for commercial fishing in my Department, different Departments are in charge of different things. Consequently, a lot of angling is the responsibility of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. That said, this must be a Government response and it does not matter who specifically is in charge of it....

Written Answers — Trade Negotiations: Trade Negotiations (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: Free trade negotiations between the EU and Mercosur (a customs union of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) which started in 1999 and broke down in 2004, restarted in May 2010. Free Trade Agreement negotiations thus far have focused on the legal text of the draft Agreement, which includes such issues as domestic regulation and licensing, export subsidies and taxes, dispute settlement...

Written Answers — Animal Feedstuffs: Animal Feedstuffs (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: As summer has just begun and it is early in the grass growing season I believe any talk about unseasonable weather conditions prevailing into the summer is premature. I am aware that grass supply has declined on many farms across the country during the past number of weeks due to the unseasonable wet weather and temperatures being around 3 to 4 degrees below normal for this time of year....

Written Answers — Common Agricultural Policy: Common Agricultural Policy (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: Given the nature of any negotiation process, it is often difficult to accurately predict not only the outcome but even the timing of an outcome. This is especially the case when the interests of 27 Member States have to be reconciled across the enormous range of issues covered by the Commission's proposals on the reform of the CAP. It is important to note also that key CAP issues are in...

Written Answers — Rural Environment Protection Scheme: Rural Environment Protection Scheme (10 May 2012)

Simon Coveney: EU Regulations governing the administration of all area based schemes including the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) require that full and comprehensive administrative checks, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification system, must be completed before any payment can issue. EU audits have made it absolutely clear that compliance with the Regulations must be strictly...