Results 6,001-6,020 of 18,461 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Departmental Agencies (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: It was in the context of ensuring the best possible value for money in State expenditure that I wrote to all bodies under the aegis of my Department in October 2008 and November 2009. The INS does not receive any grant aid from the Department. The first time I became aware of the expenses issues was on 18 September 2009, when I wrote to the chairman of the INS asking for a full account of...

Departmental Agencies (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: I do not accept the Deputy's contention. The chairman of the Irish National Stud has assured me that the company has in the past and will continue in the future to comply with the code of practice for the governance of State bodies. I emphasised the continuing need for the company to ensure it fully complies with all corporate governance requirements. The chairman and the newly appointed...

Departmental Agencies (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: It is the duty of the board to manage, lead and direct the day-to-day operations of the company. Industrial relations and human resources issues are a matter for the board. I understand some of those issues are before the courts and I will not elaborate on them here. The linkage between any Department and the boards under its remit is through their chairman. It is the chairman of the...

Departmental Agencies (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: No. A director of a company-----

Grant Payments (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: My starting point is that I see no compelling reason to change from the current historical model for determining single payments. That model has a distinct advantage in linking the payment with level of farming activity, albeit activity in 2000 to 2002. I have made my views on the benefits of the historic model clear at meetings of the Council of Ministers and in bilateral discussions with...

Grant Payments (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: Deputy Sherlock has made some interesting points. However, I can envisage that there are views expressed by the socialist group in the European Parliament which Deputy Sherlock would not propagate in Ireland and which his party would not support. We should all be careful in quoting fellow members of our group. I met Mr. Lyon when he visited Ireland along with Irish MEPs from that committee...

Grant Payments (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: I outlined our preferred option and I do not believe there will be any disagreement in this House. There was no disagreement in the committee on the occasions I attended. We want direct payments retained. We want adequate and improved market support measures. That reflects the important comment the Deputy made earlier about income stabilisation. We must have adequate anti-volatility...

Grant Payments (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: The Minister of State, Deputy Cuffe, is taking that question.

Grant Payments (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: Can we move on and go back to it?

Grant Payments (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: No.

Common Agricultural Policy (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: I apologise to Deputy Doyle on that particular issue but if there is any mix-up I will meet Deputy Doyle following Question Time and give him the exact details.

Common Agricultural Policy (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: No. Since the first policy debate took place under the French Presidency in September 2008 on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, I have been fully engaged with the EU Commission and my colleagues in other member states to present the Irish position. I have participated in all policy debates under subsequent Presidencies and I have had informal discussions with a number of my...

Common Agricultural Policy (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: It would be well known that the 12 most recently acceded countries to the European Union have voiced strong opposition to the current system of payments. They regard the current system as being unfair to them. That is their strong view and they have been very vocal in that regard. Some of the member states that would have been supportive of the historic model in the past are not...

Common Agricultural Policy (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: I would have mentioned it previously both in this House and earlier during Question Time that the Department has been doing a great deal of work on different models. Our work is not complete. I can give the spokespersons some access to the particular data on a confidential basis if they can understand where we are coming from in that particular respect. I have made the point continually and...

Common Agricultural Policy (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: I accept the point Deputy Sherlock made. It is one I have made consistently, that those resources must stay within the farm gate and they are not for rural development. I am very much of the opinion that resources voted to agriculture must remain, in whatever systems are finalised - we know what are our preferences - within the farm gate and not be broadened out into the wider rural economy.

Common Agricultural Policy (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: At a recent special debate in the Seanad on the future of the CAP post-2013, I set out some of my views on the need to ensure security of food supply and to maintain family farming in Europe. It must be borne in mind that negotiations on the future on the CAP post-2013 are taking place against the background of an EU budget review and a new EU financial perspective for the period 2014 to...

Common Agricultural Policy (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: With regard to timing, the Commission is expected to issue a formal communication later this year. Prior to the formation of the new Commission, it was expected during the time of Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel that the communication would issue in the middle of this year. However, the Commission was delayed in being established by a number of months. It was expected to take office in...

Common Agricultural Policy (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: I share the view that we should be supporting active farmers. Whatever about drawing a minimum, I know where I would draw a maximum line. I am not going to say where, however.

Common Agricultural Policy (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: I said we would have discussions in regard to models that we have done, so we will let the Deputy in on some of the thinking. However, there are always calls to public representatives' offices when the figures are published, which include some people with very large payments. I believe there should be a cut-off point and it should be directed more towards active farmers. There is a good...

Common Agricultural Policy (26 May 2010)

Brendan Smith: There is absolutely no problem with that. The Irish permanent representation in Brussels will be echoing our views. On both ministerial and official level, the Department has ongoing contacts, including dialogue and briefings, with MEPs of all parties on a weekly basis. In addition, there is interaction between our MEPs and our permanent representatives in Brussels. I understand that our...