Results 6,521-6,540 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan

Written Answers — Food Labelling: Food Labelling (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The Minister for Health and Children has overall responsibility for the general food labelling legislation. Responsibility for enforcement of labelling legislation rests with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) through its service contracts with my Department, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, the Health Services Executive, the Local Authorities and the...

Written Answers — Food Labelling: Food Labelling (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The Minister for Health and Children has overall responsibility for the general food labelling legislation. Responsibility for enforcement of labelling legislation rests with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) through its service contracts with my Department, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, the Health Services Executive, the Local Authorities and the...

Written Answers — Food Prices: Food Prices (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: According to data from the CSO, food prices increased by an average of just over 1% per annum in the 5 years since 2002. Over that period the increase in food prices was considerably lower than the overall rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, which averaged 3.4% per annum over the same time frame. Last year, food price inflation averaged 1.4% compared with a rate of 4%...

Written Answers — Beef Quality Assurance Scheme: Beef Quality Assurance Scheme (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: A Grant in Aid is provided to support Bord Bia in carrying out its statutory marketing and promotion functions. Decisions on the sectoral allocation of expenditure are taken by Bord Bia and have regard to EU state aid rules. The Grant in Aid is currently €26.505 million. In addition, some €2.3 million is being provided this year to Bord Bia by my Department towards certification costs...

Written Answers — Farm Incomes: Farm Incomes (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The NFS results for 2006 showed a 26% decline in average family farm income following an increase of 44% in 2005. Both these figures were due to exceptional circumstances as the overlap in direct payments paid in 2005, (with the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme and the payment of balance payments on 2004 premia scheme) was not repeated in 2006. As in previous years farm incomes...

Written Answers — Fishing Fleet: Fishing Fleet (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The Scheme to Permanently Withdraw Capacity from the Whitefish Sector of the Irish Fishing Fleet will involve the decommissioning of 35% of the capacity of the whitefish fleet 18 metres in length and over. This scheme will see up to 11,000 gross tonnes removed from the fleet; the target recommended by the Seafood Industry Strategy Review Group (Recommendation 4.1). This will result in up to...

Written Answers — Food Labelling: Food Labelling (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: I am fully committed to ensuring that consumers can have full confidence in the organic food they buy. For that reason my Department has assigned additional resources to the Organic Unit and they are now systematically inspecting retail outlets, including supermarkets, shops and farmers markets, checking to ensure that all product identified as organic has been produced fully in accordance...

Written Answers — Farm Accidents: Farm Accidents (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: I am, of course, very concerned about the level of safety on our farms. Last year 18 people died on Irish farms (8 of these people were aged over 70) and this year up to 1 August 8 people have died. It is estimated that there are some 3,000 injuries on farms each year. I strongly support the work of The Health and Safety Authority (HSA), which is charged with overall responsibility for...

Written Answers — Food Safety: Food Safety (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The placing of animal products on to the EU market may only take place where the conditions for their production and processing meet the EU's animal and public health requirements. Where risks to the safety of animal and public health arise from animal disease outbreaks, such as the foot and mouth disease, the EU Commission, which has responsibility in this area, immediately places...

Written Answers — World Trade Negotiations: World Trade Negotiations (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The negotiations on a new WTO agreement were launched at Doha in November 2001. While significant progress has been made towards concluding an agreement, most notably in the Framework Agreement which was reached in Geneva in August 2004 and at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong in December 2005, final agreement has not yet been reached. The negotiations resumed fully in January 2007...

Written Answers — Tree Felling: Tree Felling (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: As outlined in a previous reply, testing for fireblight was carried out by my Department in the Fingal area and following positive results for fireblight trees were removed and destroyed. Host trees in the same stand were also removed to prevent further spread of the diseaseThe following trees tested positive for Fireblight in Verbena and Bayside this year. Location Tree Species Date...

Written Answers — Ministerial Expenses: Ministerial Expenses (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The amount paid for travel, subsistence and miscellaneous expenses to each Minister of State in my Department for each of the past five years is set out as follows. 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 â'¬ â'¬ â'¬ â'¬ â'¬ Noel Treacy 35,353 30,297 John Brown 8,033 40,547 10,824 Brendan Smith 6,109 30,959 39,791 22,252 Mary Wallace 26,193 36,431 Liam Aylward 38,582 44,064

Written Answers — Animal Welfare: Animal Welfare (3 Oct 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. There is also specific legislation in place in relation to pigs, calves and laying hens. The legislation is enforced in each county by...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The grant application referred to was submitted under the Forestry Development Call for Proposals 2007. A large number of high quality applications were received under this year's Call. The applications have been examined and final decisions on the projects to be funded will issue this week. Each applicant will be notified in writing of the decision made.

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: 3,467 applications for grant-aid have been received under the Farm Improvement Scheme since its introduction on 12 July 2007. To date, 268 approvals have issued to farmers to commence work under the Scheme. As farmers can submit applications prior to the receipt of full and final planning permission, it is not possible to state when approval can issue in all cases.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (3 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: Earlier this year, I announced the provision of a new second level school for the Kinvara area. This decision was and remains predicated on the Mercy Order as Trustees of Seamount College accepting first year students each year until the end of the 2011/2012 school year. The Deputy will appreciate that planning for a new school involves a number of processes which can take some time to...

Written Answers — Irish Horseracing Industry: Irish Horseracing Industry (9 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: This is an operational matter for the Irish Horse Board which is a cooperative registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, 1893-1978. The Minister has no official responsibility in relation to this matter.

Written Answers — Bovine Diseases: Bovine Diseases (9 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: Having the age limit for BSE testing increased has been a priority of mine since my appointment as Minister and I and my officials have pushed the case at every opportunity. I have long taken the view that, given the significant decline in the incidence of the disease across the European Union in recent years, not least in Ireland, and the control measures in place, an increase in the age...

Written Answers — Sheep Sector: Sheep Sector (9 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The Sheep Industry Strategy Development Group, under the chairmanship of Mr. John Malone, issued its report in June 2006. The report contained a total of 37 recommendations as to how the future of the sheep sector could be secured going forward. I established an Implementation Group, also under the chairmanship of Mr. Malone, in July 2006, to oversee the implementation of the...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (9 Oct 2007)

Mary Coughlan: The Farm Improvement Scheme was introduced by my Department last July and provides grant-aid to eligible farmers for, inter alia, the building of stables for horses. The maximum eligible investment ceiling for such work under the Scheme is €120,000 and the standard grant-rate is 40%.