Results 8,181-8,200 of 18,593 for speaker:Michael Creed

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: May I ask Deputy McConalogue one other simple question-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: -----just to nail it, if we can, for once and for all? If we had a Brexit Minister, which Council of Ministers would he attend at a European level? He would not be entitled to attend the Agriculture and Fisheries Council with the other Ministers with responsibility for agriculture. He would stand outside the door like a lost sheep. He would be in-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: Charlie-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: This is the challenge of our times-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: -----and it requires more serious engagement from the Deputy than this kind of facetious analysis.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme Review (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: Under the rural development regulation, each member state must designate areas eligible for payments under the areas of natural constraint scheme. The ANC scheme replaces the previous disadvantaged areas and less favoured areas schemes. The designation of eligible areas under these schemes to date has been based on a range of socio-economic factors. From 2018, eligible areas must...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme Review (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: The Deputy will be aware that there is a specific commitment in the programme for Government to restore some of the ANC cuts made in previous years to the tune of €25 million in 2018. This is a welcome step in the right direction. It does not travel the full road of recovery from the cuts inflicted at that time by a Fianna Fáil-led Government but we are committed to making some...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme Review (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: My understanding is that there will be potential for tiered levels of designation, as is currently the case, within the final designation. The objective now is to secure disadvantaged status against the set of biophysical criteria. Within that status, there will be provision for tiered designation as is currently the case. There are various designations throughout the country. The gap is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Data and Genomics Programme (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: There are currently just under 24,500 participants in the beef data and genomics programme, BDGP. This scheme builds on the previous nationally funded pilot beef genomics scheme 2014 and can provide a lasting positive impact on the national suckler herd both in terms of genetic gain and environmental sustainability. The scheme is now firmly established and its benefits are already...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Data and Genomics Programme (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: It is somewhat reassuring to find that a scheme which, in its early days, was the subject of much criticism, not least from those in certain quarters on the other side of the House, is now one that all quarters are anxious to have because they recognise its merit and want to have it extended further. I am constrained in respect of the beef data and genomics scheme by the funding available...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Data and Genomics Programme (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: I have previously given a commitment to spend every brown cent that is available from the European Commission under the rural development programme. My predecessors of all hues have been in a position to honour similar commitments.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Data and Genomics Programme (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: We will not leave a brown cent unspent under the rural development programme. As I said in my initial reply, I am considering the latitude that might be available to reopen the beef data genomics programme. I accept that the beef sector is having a particularly difficult period. That is why we are taking a multifaceted approach that involves live export opportunities, calf export...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Data and Genomics Programme (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: I do not have anything to add to the points I have already made. As I have outlined, I am considering the latitude that might be available under the rural development programme for further expenditure under the beef data genomics programme. Existing commitments mean that the latitude which is available, if any, is not of the scale suggested by Deputy McConalogue. If the Deputy is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fertiliser Costs (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: I am aware that fertiliser costs comprise a significant area of expenditure on Irish farms. I strongly believe the elimination of fertiliser tariffs and anti-dumping duties could help farmers to reduce their input costs.  According to EUROSTAT, fertiliser is the third most important expenditure item on EU farms, accounting for €19.2 billion of expenditure in 2014. Fertiliser...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fertiliser Costs (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: As I said in my response, I have raised this issue at European level. I appreciate that the cost of inputs is something we can endeavour to address. I have raised this issue at meetings of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. Commissioner Moscovici, rather than the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Hogan, is responsible for anti-dumping tariffs because it is a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fertiliser Costs (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: I have not heard from Deputy Collins about the way compensation might be paid. As I stated to others, where there is a way there is a will. We are still searching for the way and we have not heard any detailed proposals from the Deputy on that. We would be very interested to hear about that. What are the technical issues? They are myriad and are as many as there are applicants...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Superlevy Fine (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: When EU milk quota was abolished in April 2015, some 6,400 Irish dairy farmers had accrued a superlevy liability of €71 million for exceeding their milk quota. To assist with the large superlevy bill across the EU, the European Commission introduced an optional scheme for member states whereby a milk quota levy incurred by producers in the final quota year could be paid in equal...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Superlevy Fine (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: The rationale for the scheme was twofold. There was a very significant superlevy bill not just in Ireland but across the European Union and a number of member states decided to avail of the latitude offered by the Commission in paying the superlevy over a period rather than up-front. It was also a reflection that at the time, milk prices began to go south, which put additional repayment...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Food Exports to China (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: On 29 October 2015, the Chinese food import authorities wrote to the Irish Embassy in Beijing expressing concern about the levels of the heavy metal cadmium in live crabs coming from Ireland, which the Chinese authorities determined exceeded Chinese limits. The Chinese authorities requested that Ireland ensure only crabs which meet the Chinese standards for cadmium be permitted for export....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Food Exports to China (9 Mar 2017)

Michael Creed: That is not the case. On a delegation to China, I raised the issue, supported by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, with the Chinese authorities. While the Chinese market is very important for us, so is the certification we give, not just to seafood but to all our other food exports. I appreciate the Deputy's point, and the fact the meat is being exported, repackaged and sold on to...