Results 1,101-1,120 of 18,449 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Fishing Industry Development. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: The Agriculture and Fisheries Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg last week had a heavy agenda of fisheries items which were of importance to the Irish fishing industry. I attended the meeting with my colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries and forestry, Deputy Killeen. In the run-up to, and during, the Council, the Minister of State and I had a series of...

Fishing Industry Development. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: As Deputy Penrose said, I had a long and detailed meeting with the Federation of Irish Fishermen in his home county of Westmeath a number of weeks ago. In the meantime, both the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, our officials and myself had the opportunity to meet its members on a number of occasions and both before and after the Council of Ministers meeting. One of the issues highlighted...

Fishing Industry Development. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: Regarding the latter points, as I mentioned earlier, the IUU regulation has been adopted at the Fisheries Council. Regarding a level playing field, we secured a commitment from Commissioner Borg that he would examine a specific proposal from Ireland that would help strengthen the tools available to coastal states such as Ireland to control fishing activity in our exclusive fishery zones....

Fishing Industry Development. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: No. The offers have gone out to the individual vessel owners. A total of €42 million has gone out——

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: My Department implements a broad range of schemes and services in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and food processing sectors. It is responsible for voted expenditure of some €1.9 billion in 2008 and also acts as paying agency in respect of EU funding for direct payments to farmers and market supports which total about €1.4 billion. A high proportion of the Department's Vote relates...

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: ——together account for over €250 million of the Department's Vote this year to ensure that investment in the farming, forestry, fisheries and food sectors continues to play a critical role in encouraging innovation, improving competitiveness and ensuring protection of the environment. Expenditure, receipts and the achievement of key outputs are very closely monitored on an ongoing basis...

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I will come back to Deputy Creed with more detail. I will write to him during the week because I do not have statistics with me on the take-up there may have been in the meantime since he tabled that parliamentary question. I assure him that I met individual farmers and others familiar with the sheep sector. There are concerns about the decline in numbers for some time but, thankfully,...

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I also had discussions with Ministers from the other devolved administrations in our neighbouring island on a number of issues. We have been making arrangements to hold formal meetings — these were more informal meetings. One of the issues we will have down for discussion at the next North-South Ministerial Conference on Agriculture that comes up relatively shortly is the issue of sheep...

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: As Deputy Creed will be aware, we review on an ongoing basis the particular demands on each of the subheads in the Department. Sometimes there can be pressure on one subhead. Other times there can be a reduced draw down on another subhead. At times, in my limited knowledge of Government finances, there can be a transfer between subheads within a Department depending on the particular...

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I will not mislead Deputy Creed or any Member of the House. I do not know what draw down there has been on that particular scheme to date.

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: As Deputy Creed will be aware, sometimes the draw down can change considerably in a short space of time——

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: ——but I will not give him information that would not be accurate.

World Trade Negotiations. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: The WTO Director General announced on Friday last that he will propose that a WTO ministerial meeting take place in Geneva in the week commencing 21 July next. The purpose of this meeting is to finalise the modalities or detailed texts of agreements on agriculture and non-agricultural market access, NAMA. It is envisaged that a Signalling Conference on Trade in Services will take place at...

World Trade Negotiations. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: On the question on unanimity before the Lisbon treaty, as we all are aware, there was any amount of misrepresentation and misinformation on the Lisbon treaty and what it would and would not affect. There was a suggestion from the "No" campaign that unanimity would not be a requirement for a WTO deal if the Lisbon treaty was ratified. Unanimity was a requirement before the referendum and...

World Trade Negotiations. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I am not afraid to say it and I was going to use the word. The misinformation circulating created a need for a debate on the requirement for unanimity. My predecessor, the Taoiseach and I have indicated that Ireland is prepared to use its veto if an agreement which is unacceptable——

World Trade Negotiations. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: What Deputy Creed says is not correct because he——

World Trade Negotiations. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I have participated in public broadcasts and media interviews and stated then what I will state now, if I have the opportunity to finish. The Taoiseach indicated that Ireland is prepared to use its veto if an agreement unacceptable to it is put to a vote and this remains the position. To revert to the Deputy's earlier question, we expect revised papers on non-agricultural market access,...

Fishing Fleet Protection. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: The current discussions at EU level on the high cost of fuel are essentially about short-term emergency measures. However, any long-term solution to the current difficulties will have to include measures to rectify the fundamental rebalancing of the fleet capacity with the stock resources available, taking into account the operational costs involved for fishing vessel owners. Grant aid...

Fishing Fleet Protection. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I have met the fishermen and I know their concerns. I have also heard these concerns from colleagues in the Oireachtas. Several issues were put to Commissioner Borg both in the meeting with the Minister of State, Deputy Tony Killeen, and I and at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. We made progress on the IUU regulation, which I mentioned earlier in answer to a question from Deputy...

Fishing Fleet Protection. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I do not know the differential in fuel price between countries but there is a specific measure in this country to assist fishermen with the cost of fuel. At the Council of Ministers meeting, as well as bilateral meetings, we put a range of proposals to the Commissioner for consideration. He took the views of all the different member states and he had to return to the college of...