Results 6,401-6,420 of 18,593 for speaker:Michael Creed

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (4 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: I propose to take Questions Nos. 546, 548 and 550 together. Bord na gCon is a commercial state body, established under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. Bord na gCon has informed me that it contributed the sum of €84,145 to The Irish Greyhound Trust Fund in 2015 and in addition to this provided the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Greyhound Industry (4 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: Bord na gCon is a commercial state body, established in 1958 under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. Bord na gCon is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The issues to which the Deputy refers are an operational matter for Bord na gCon. ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Greyhound Industry (4 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: Bord na gCon is a commercial state body, established in 1958, under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. Bord na gCon is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. State funding to the horse and greyhound racing industries is provided through the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Scheme Eligibility (4 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: The person named is not the registered owner of the herd shown according to records held by my Department. There is no herd number registered in the name of the person named based on records in my Department. In the circumstances it is not possible to comment on the number of entitlements held.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Knowledge Transfer Programme (4 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: Knowledge Transfer Groups are currently being rolled out as part of the range of supports and measures contained in Ireland’s Rural Development Programme (RDP), 2014-2020. All RDP schemes are required to incorporate eligibility and selection criteria to ensure equitable treatment of applicants, better use of financial resources and targeting of measures in accordance with the European...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Scheme Eligibility (4 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: Preliminary analysis carried out by my Department shows that some 3,900 farmers fall into the category of Forgotten Farmer. This group is defined as farmers who are under 40 years of age, established their holdings prior to 2008 and who hold low value entitlements. An estimation of the cost of increasing the value of existing entitlements to the National Average for these 3,900 farmers...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Land Issues (4 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: Some 8 million records relating to the activities of the former Irish Land Commission are available in paper format only. There are no plans at present to make these records available on line, my Department may consider this at a future date. 

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Plant Protection Products (4 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: The EU Regulations dealing with authorisation of plant protection products and biocidal products stipulate that active substances intended for use in products can only be approved if they are not considered to have endocrine disrupting properties that may cause adverse effect in humans. In June 2016 the Commission presented an impact assessment and draft legislative proposals for scientific...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: TAMS Applications (4 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: This file was subject to a check to verify compliance with the farm waste and nutrient storage requirements as laid down in S.I. No. 31 of 2014. These checks have now been completed and the relevant requirements have been confirmed as in order.  The file is now ready for final processing and it is expected that the approval should issue to the farmer concerned shortly.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Aquaculture Licence Applications (4 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: Applications for aquaculture licences are considered by my Department in accordance with the provisions of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act and the 1933 Foreshore Act and applicable EU legislation. The licence application referred to is in respect of sites located in an area which is designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive. All applications in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Staff Redeployment (4 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: My Department currently has one staff member of the Department who retired, and was re-hired some months later as part of an open competition.  In relation to Public Sector workers, this is a matter for the bodies themselves.  The Department makes use of the expertise of retired members of the Department for the purposes of selection processes including the short listing...

Topical Issue Debate: Agriculture Schemes (5 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: I thank Deputy McConalogue for raising this issue and for giving me an opportunity to address the House in respect of it. I fully acknowledge and accept that ongoing difficulties are being experienced by the farming community, not least our tillage farmers. This sector is very important in the agricultural economy but it has been a challenging year in terms of both market returns and...

Topical Issue Debate: Agriculture Schemes (5 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: I ask the Deputy to reflect on the following point. It is difficult, and that which can be salvaged at this stage may be a small fraction. However, if I were to introduce a fund, every endeavour to salvage whatever is salvageable would cease. I want to ensure the endeavour continues. This point was made at the forum today and was reflected in contributions from all sides. Until we have a...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Public Sector Staff Retirements (5 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: The Department did not pay out any pension lump sums outside of those paid by the Payroll Shared Services (previously the Department of Finance) for the period 2013-2015.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Grants (5 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: The review requested by the Deputy has been carried out. The person in question was notified by letter dated 14thSeptember 2016 that a decision had been made by the Department to reduce the area payable on the contract from 3.79 hectares to 3.40 hectares. In carrying out the review the Department has acted in a very reasonable and fair manner towards the applicant. While the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Dairy Sector (5 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: I am fully aware of the pressures on farmers right now and I have committed to working with all the stakeholders, both at national and EU level, to address these issues and ensure that we continue to have a sustainable and resilient sector. In order to address the ongoing difficulties in the Dairy markets at EU and international level, the Commission presented a further package of measures...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Basic Payment Scheme Appeals (5 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: The person named submitted a 2015 Private Contract Clause application to my Department seeking the transfer of land and entitlements by lease as transferee.  This application was not successful and the person named was notified in writing and offered the opportunity to have this decision reviewed.  The request for review was received from the person named and following consideration...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Basic Payment Scheme Appeals (5 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: The Agriculture Appeals Office has confirmed that an appeal was received from the person named. The file and a statement have been received from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and has been assigned to an Appeals Officer. The Appeals Officer will be in direct contact with the person named regarding the appeal. All of the facts of the case will be fully...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Appeals (5 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: A request to terminate the AEOS contract under the provisions of Force Majeure as set out in the Terms and Conditions of the Scheme was received on 27 May 2016. A letter issued to the person named on 4 July 2016 denying this request. The person named was also afforded the opportunity to appeal this decision to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office if they...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Greyhound Industry (5 Oct 2016)

Michael Creed: I propose to take Questions Nos. 210 and 211 together. I am aware of recent media reports alleging mistreatment of dogs including greyhounds in China. Nine greyhounds were exported from Ireland to that destination earlier this year. There is no evidence to suggest that any of these greyhounds were mistreated. However, on foot of these exports, officials of my Department met with...