Results 6,381-6,400 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: To be clear, the purpose of this section of the Bill is to allow authorised officers to act quickly to prevent the spread of disease. We want to empower authorised officers to make a decision to issue a permit if appropriate without having to seek sanction from the Minister's office. I understand the Senator's request as being a belt and braces approach to ensure that permits are issued in...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: The wording may have been improved already.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: Yes, the species issue is already catered for in line 19.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: My concern with this proposed wording is that it may provide an excuse for neglect. Whether an action is deliberate or by mistake, if it causes unnecessary suffering there needs to be a consequence for such an action. The definition of "unnecessary suffering" is noted in the third line of the paragraph which the Senator proposes to amend. It is defined clearly on page 9 and this definition...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: We have put a great deal of thought into this since Committee Stage. One of the problems is that there is no definition for normal farm practice. In fact, it changes all the time. Last January, for example, a new set of animal welfare regulations relating to poultry was introduced by the EU, and next January there will be a new set of regulations relating to the pig industry and loose sow...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: Including the term "code of practice" here is to allow a farmer to have a defence if they are accused of doing something that is unnecessarily cruel or whatever. If they can show that their farming practice is consistent with the code of practice that has been agreed, it could be an argument in their defence. Rather than it being a problem, the opposite might well be the case. As I have...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: The answer lies in how we choose and train authorised officers and the code of standards by which they operate. Consider the case of somebody using the animal welfare helpline to inform the Department he has seen real evidence of severe cruelty in a house or garden down the road and that he wants an inspector to investigate. As far as I am concerned, this presents reasonable grounds for an...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: That is a fair point. I envisage that, from an agricultural perspective, there will not be any change to existing practice. Departmental veterinarians who understand farming and agricultural practice will be involved. Veterinarians have varying levels of experience and qualifications. If one is to carry out a farm inspection, one needs to understand how farming, livestock management and...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: It is important to clarify a few issues. This section was the subject of quite a bit of discussion on Second Stage. Section 23(1) covers the concern that has been outlined and expressed to me by farming organisations, whereby if farmers cannot get a vet or cannot afford a vet, if it is a fairly straightforward case of an animal breaking a leg and suffering, and it is possible to get...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: I do not see why they would not. That is a case of humane destruction of an animal. The Bill applies to all cases and not just the farmyard. Such action may be required at a show, in an abattoir or a person's back yard. There is no distinction made between farming and non-farming activity.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: I can see what the Senators are saying. The subsection states: "Nothing in this section prevents the occasional killing by or on behalf of the owner of an individual protected animal that is injured." There is a distinction between that and the subject of 23(2)(b), whereby, essentially, a person comes across an animal that is in a particularly bad way, either injured or diseased and dying....

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: I believe the rainfall has been higher in Cork than in Donegal.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: The sections are a reflection of the existing legislation, which is the Bovine Diseases (Levies) Act 1979. It gives the Minister or any future Minister the power to introduce a new levy should he or she deem it appropriate in new areas in animal health and disease control. It also puts in place a number of requirements to be met by the Minister before he or she can do so. Where a Minister...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: The legislation is in place already. We are merely updating it.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: There are no anticipated increases because we do not propose an increase. We propose a legal framework to allow a Minister to make a decision in the area if he or she wishes to with regard to disease levy. To be clear, the receipts for 2011 for the bovine disease levy and compensation amounted to €5.67 million. On-farm market valuation compensation for 2011 amounted to €13.781 million...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: I do not propose to accept these amendments. I do not know why the Senator is introducing this unnecessary level of doubt. If an animal cannot be identified, then the Minister should have the power to destroy it rather than have the terminology proposed that if it is not possible to identify an animal, then the Minister may have the power. One would have to have a discussion and argument...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: We are trying to put in place a wording to reflect the conversation we had and to try to get the balance right between putting in place a fair system of valuation and assessment, which does not take a long time and ensures people get paid, but which is not a situation where the farmer chooses his or her valuer. In the vast majority of cases, I am sure there would be no problem with that but...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: Following the debate on Committee Stage I have educated myself on the system. On the last occasion I talked about the theory behind it but I had not realised that existing compliance notices are given to farmers by authorised officers in order to keep cases out of the courts. The whole point of a welfare notice, or a compliance notice as they are currently called, is to keep people out of...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: Let us be clear. If somebody appeals this decision to the Minister's office, in all likelihood we will have the same result if there is consistency. They will appeal the decision to the District Court. One could have a similar case to that outlined by the Senator, a difficult individual who should not be minding animals abusing a donkey. An authorised officer may go in and issue a notice,...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (18 Jul 2012)

Simon Coveney: I thank Senators for their interaction and co-operation. This is a major Bill, with some complex elements. The debate in the Seanad has exposed some weaknesses which I think we will improve on in the Dáil. It was very worthwhile to introduce it in the Seanad and we have had good interaction on a series of issues. I hope that my response to them was satisfactory. I thank my officials -...