Results 6,941-6,960 of 18,593 for speaker:Michael Creed

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Basic Payment Scheme Administration (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: I have dealt with the returning emigrants and the group known as old young farmers. The specific group where we have a difficulty and on which we are trying to progress is the forgotten farmer. The Department estimates there are approximately 3,800 or 3,900 such farmers. The issue here, and the Deputy hit the nail on the head, is that there is no reserve at present. Entitlements flow into...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Basic Payment Scheme Administration (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: I will give a quick summation of the mathematics involved. The Deputy has offered a suggestion for €5 million. The cost of dealing with the 3,900 farmers, as estimated by the Department, is €12 million, so there is €7 million to find. We are still not making enough from the Deputy's proposal, which is targeting some but not all.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Basic Payment Scheme Administration (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: To be fair, I cannot proceed on the basis of the back of an envelope, nor can I proceed in breach of EU regulations. The first hurdle I have to clear, and I do not want to underestimate the challenge we face, is to get EU approval to include this category. If we secure them as an approved category, eligible to draw from the reserve, we have to consider how we would create a reserve that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: GLAS Issues (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: The first two tranches of GLAS resulted in almost 38,000 farmers being approved into the scheme in its first year of implementation. This represents an unprecedented level of participation in the first year of an agri-environment scheme in Ireland. This scheme is providing support to Irish farmers to deliver environmental benefits and public goods which will enhance Ireland's agriculture...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: GLAS Issues (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: I have already indicated ad nauseamin the Chamber that the record of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on previous rural development programmes and on this one is to spend every penny that has been allocated. As I said in reply to the Deputy's first parliamentary question, the schemes do not lend themselves to 1 January to 31 December absolutist deadlines. That is why we...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: GLAS Issues (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: I ask the Deputy, in the context of his question, to reflect on why it is that we are paying REPS and AEOS payments now.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: GLAS Issues (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: The Deputy's suggestion, with which I totally disagree, is that new entrants to the GLAS now would only get three years payment.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: GLAS Issues (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: We are committed to paying them for five years. The Deputy has to accept that once the RDP funding was secured, we had to submit a rural development plan to Brussels and it had to approve it. Once we got approval, we had to invite applications and payments GLAS payments began in late 2015. Then it was opened up to new applicants. The number that will ultimately benefit from this is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Agrifood Sector (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: Ireland is a small, open economy that exports the vast bulk of its main agricultural commodities. Therefore, producer prices here are largely determined by commodity prices on world markets rather than by production levels within Ireland. We have seen significant commodity price volatility on world markets over recent years. However, there are measures in place to help Irish farmers...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Agrifood Sector (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: The Deputy's argument seems to be predicated on the fact that the UK decision to leave the EU means we will lose a market for 43% of our exports. It will undoubtedly be challenged and this is why, for example, I have visited the UK twice to meet major multiples that buy substantial volumes of our exports. I will meet Andrea Leadsom, my UK counterpart, tomorrow to indicate that we are open...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Agrifood Sector (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: We have taken a number of initiatives, one of which was to establish a stakeholders forum. Farming organisations, those involved in the processing sector and the fisheries community are all inside the tent informing our deliberations on this matter. This is an unprecedented challenge. We are not all knowing and that is why we need to engage in the consultation process to give every one of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Legislative Measures (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: The recent Supreme Court judgment, to which the Deputy refers, relates to fishing activities by Northern Ireland vessels within the territorial waters of the State.  The judgment arose from an appeal taken by a number of Irish mussel seed fishermen against the findings of the High Court.  The Supreme Court issued its judgment on 27 October, finding that fishing by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Legislative Measures (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: I appreciate this is an issue for which all sides of the House are anxious to find a legislative fix as quickly as possible. That is also the objective within my Department. I have had considerable contact with my Northern Ireland equivalent, Michelle McIlveen, and obviously this is causing some concern to fishermen in Northern Ireland. It is my ambition to get us to a situation as quickly...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Legislative Measures (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: I am not sure if I have the numbers the Deputy requires but I will ask my Department to inquire into the matter of the number of fishing vessels involved. My intention is to get to a situation where the status quo anteprevails.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Legislative Measures (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: On the length of the vessels. If that was the situation previously, it will be the situation that will be provided for.

Other Questions: Bovine Disease Controls (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: As I mentioned in my response to Parliamentary Question No. 41 on 27 October, it is my Department's intention to deploy a full badger vaccination strategy as soon as robust scientific evidence becomes available that demonstrates such a programme is practicable and will deliver an outcome equivalent to the existing wildlife programme. In this context, my Department is involved in a range of...

Other Questions: Bovine Disease Controls (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: There is another side to this debate to which Deputy Daly is blind-sided. It relates to the extraordinary hardship that a TB outbreak brings to the farming community. I know this because I represent the people affected in my constituency. When a dairy, beef or suckler herd is wiped out by TB, farmers, in conjunction with the Department, are most keen to find out whether it was an issue...

Other Questions: Bovine Disease Controls (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: There is no stakeholder in this that wants to see a resolution more quickly than the farming community. My Department is not in the slipstream of this either: we are in the vanguard in driving it. However, we must have a rational, scientific basis on which to proceed. In the interim, where badger issues associated with TB outbreaks in particular areas are identified - the Department...

Other Questions: Beef Exports (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: As an exporting country, accessing new markets is crucial to the long-term sustainability of our agrifood sector, especially in the beef sector. For beef exports, 2015 was a very successful year. According to the CSO, overall exports of beef totalled some €2.2 billion that year. Beef exports to the end of September 2016 are running at €1.65 billion. Third-country markets are...

Other Questions: Beef Exports (30 Nov 2016)

Michael Creed: I am extremely concerned about the fact that a post-Brexit scenario, in which the UK can unilaterally conduct its own trade negotiations, could lead to the UK doing a deal with the Mercosur countries or other countries in respect of imports of a range of commodities, including beef, which could have the impact of undermining our position on UK supermarket shelves. One of the messages on...