Results 10,541-10,560 of 18,593 for speaker:Michael Creed

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Industry Development (7 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: A decision has been made to locate the National Food Innovation Hub at the Teagasc Moorepark Campus, Fermoy. The Food Hub aims to create a supportive environment for research and innovation at Moorepark involving food companies and research organisations with a focus on food, health and nutrition. It integrates three components at Moorepark: the existing Teagasc food research...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (7 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: I am advised that the practice of pair trawling in inshore waters and estuaries, including Kenmare Bay, around Ireland is confined to fishing for sprat. The Irish Wildlife Trust also identifies sprat as the target species for this activity. Sprat is a short-lived species and an important prey fish for many marine species thus vital to the ocean food chain as well as an...

Priority Questions: Rural Development Programme Data (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: Ireland’s rural development programme 2014–2020 represents a substantial investment by both the EU and the national Exchequer in the agri-food sector and in Irish farmers. The programme is co-funded by the EU’s European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, EAFRD, to a sum of €2.19 billion over the programme lifespan. This EU funding is supplemented by...

Priority Questions: Rural Development Programme Data (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: Quite simply, I disagree entirely with the Deputy's analysis. It is not borne out by the facts. The average rate of drawdown across the European Union is 22.68%. Ireland's drawdown is 39.01%. We are way ahead of the posse in terms of our drawdown of the EU element of the rural development programme and across the range of schemes. The Deputy referred to GLAS. More than 50,000 farmers,...

Priority Questions: Rural Development Programme Data (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: As I have said repeatedly, there will be a full drawdown of 50,000 applicants over five years-----

Priority Questions: Rural Development Programme Data (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: Average payments are approximately €4,500.

Priority Questions: Rural Development Programme Data (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: To the best of my recollection, it is approximately €300 million. It is 50,000 farmers and an average payment of almost €4,500. If the farmer has Natura lands, there is a possibility of a top-up up to €7,000.

Priority Questions: Rural Development Programme Data (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: I can get the exact figures on that for the Deputy. I acknowledge the Deputy's right to be wrong, and consistently wrong-----

Priority Questions: Rural Development Programme Data (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: -----but we will draw down all of the funding under the rural development programme and we will honour all of the contractual obligations we have under the scheme.

Priority Questions: Rural Development Programme Data (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: What I am saying today is what I have repeated on numerous occasions. The rural development programme is a scheme of €4 billion, with €2.19 billion in EU funding and the balance funded by the Exchequer. We are on target to draw down all of the EU funding and to pay all of the matching funds required to draw down that funding. GLAS is the flagship scheme in the rural...

Priority Questions: Fodder Crisis (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: My Department has been closely monitoring weather conditions, grass growth and feed supplies. It is clear that the weather conditions over recent weeks have been challenging, and this has created difficulties for farmers in parts of the country, particularly in the western regions. Grass growth rates through September and October were ahead of recent years. Data from Pasturebase...

Priority Questions: Fodder Crisis (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: I fully acknowledge the Deputy's points. Even in my own constituency on the heavier ground, I know underfoot grazing conditions have deteriorated and that although there is still substantial grass cover because of the mild wet weather, it is not suitable for letting cattle out on. In parts of the country, cattle have been kept inside for a protracted period. I have asked Teagasc to...

Priority Questions: Fodder Crisis (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: -----but it may be that in some areas there is a deficit and in others there is a surplus. We will monitor the situation. We do not envisage that the crisis is on the scale that the Deputy has spoken about. In individual cases where there may be welfare issues arising because of fodder, there is a contact point in the Department for this and the Department may step in to assist individual...

Priority Questions: Fodder Crisis (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: The last thing we want to see is farmers selling the seed potato or the suckler cow. We do not want to see that. If there is a message that both I and the Deputy wish to send to farmers now, it is that they should engage with their advisory service to help them budget through with whatever feed they have and any supplement that might be needed. Teagasc, the State's advisory service, will...

Priority Questions: Basic Payment Scheme Payments (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: The 2016 programme for Government undertook to propose a lowering of the cap on basic payments from €150,000 to €100,000 during a mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP.  However, due to the ongoing simplification and modernisation programme of the existing CAP, it is unlikely that a mid-term review of the existing CAP will now take place. Since 16...

Priority Questions: Basic Payment Scheme Payments (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: To pursue the commitments in the programme for Government, which were entered into in good faith, there is a requirement that the door would be kept open at Commission level for a mid-term review of the CAP. That has not happened. As the Deputy is aware, having referred to his party's own submission and the leaked document from the Commission, without a mid-term review there is a headlong...

Priority Questions: Basic Payment Scheme Payments (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: I have made the point on a number of occasions, although I am not sure if I have made it here publicly, that we should be prepared to contemplate an increase in our contribution to the EU budget. I would not like to see us making an increased contribution to the overall European Union budget if we did not see it reflected in an increased level of funding for the CAP. I accept that Europe...

Priority Questions: Coillte Teoranta Lands (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: I thank the Deputy for his question. If that was the case I would indeed be concerned. Coillte was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act 1988 and day-to-day operational matters, such as the management of its lands, are the responsibility of the company. I recently had the opportunity to meet with the chairman and the CEO of Coillte and we reviewed the...

Priority Questions: Coillte Teoranta Lands (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: First of all I should apologise for the Minister of State, Deputy Andrew Doyle, who is unavoidably absent today. This is his core area of responsibility. It is not at all as if Coillte is abandoning its core objective on these lands, which may have potential for wind harvest. The nature of much of Coillte's estate is that they are elevated lands which, apart from being suitable for growing...

Priority Questions: Coillte Teoranta Lands (8 Nov 2017)

Michael Creed: My effort is lost in terms of trying to convey that it is not a case of either wind energy or trees. In fact, the objective is to try to maximise the potential of some of the sites to harvest wind in order that the company will have the resources to reinvest in its core business. That kind of refocusing on the core business is a direction of travel that I believe is welcome.