Results 14,461-14,480 of 18,593 for speaker:Michael Creed

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: -----displaced and replaced by beef from South America or dairy products with a far higher carbon footprint.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Environmental Efficiency Scheme Pilot (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I launched the beef environmental efficiency pilot scheme on 30 January. The launch was covered in the agriculture media. Applications for participation in the pilot scheme will be accepted from Monday, 4 February to 22 February. The terms and conditions and information on the process and application procedure are available on my Department's website. The procurement process for the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Environmental Efficiency Scheme Pilot (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: The infrastructure will be in place, including the weighing scales. We will have a nationwide network of scales to be provided by the successful tenderer. That process will commence on 8 March. The ambition, about which I am confident, is that the hiring out of those weighing scales or the use of approved weighing scales by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, ICBF, if they are owned or...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Environmental Efficiency Scheme Pilot (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: On the last point, if the scheme is over-subscribed it will require a linear cut. We expect the participation rate to be similar to that for the BDGP which, at 500,000, would allow for the payment as envisaged under the scheme. If it is over-subscribed, it will require a linear cut across the board. On the issue of simplicity, the scheme is very user-friendly. All that farmers need to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Common Agricultural Policy (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: The new legislative proposals for the CAP for the period 2021 to 2027 were launched on Friday, 1 June 2018 by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Phil Hogan. The proposals as drafted involve significant changes, including in relation to governance, the distribution of direct payments among farmers and the increasing environmental conditionality attaching to such...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Common Agricultural Policy (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I appreciate that Deputy Ó Cuív may have had other business to attend to earlier but I already had a discussion with Deputy Martin Kenny on the reference years issue. It is not fair to say that the reference years are an anachronism because the system has moved so much in terms of convergence. In fact, in the period of the current CAP, more than €100 million will have moved...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Common Agricultural Policy (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: There is no greening in the current proposal.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Common Agricultural Policy (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: My understanding of the regulations as currently drafted, and the Deputy will appreciate that there is political engagement around all of this detail so it is impossible to be definitive about what the final outcome will look like from this juncture, is that in terms of the CAP generally, there will be far greater environmental ambition. Part of the CAP strategic plan will have to outline...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Brexit Issues (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I appreciate the Deputy's ongoing interest in this issue. Ireland has a strong reputation for the quality of its horses and the quality of its horsemanship. The current EU rules on the movement of horses between EU member states require that the animals being moved are inspected by an official veterinarian and accompanied by a veterinary health certificate issued under the EU TRACES system...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Brexit Issues (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: The Department has had extensive and ongoing negotiations with the industry and the Commission on this matter. I raised the subject with Commissioner Hogan on Monday of last week in Brussels. It does not just affect the thoroughbred sector because the horse sport sector also sees very considerable volume. I saw figures recently suggesting that anything up to 30,000 sport horses outside of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Brexit Issues (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I acknowledge the Deputy's ongoing interest in this area. Given where he is from, it is a critical issue. We have had extensive engagement. It is an issue of which we are very aware. It will involve change to the current arrangements but we are endeavouring to make those as user-friendly and efficient as possible.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Fish Quotas (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: Ireland has not made a specific application to Europe for a commercial bluefin tuna quota. The available bluefin tuna quota is allocated each year to member states on the basis of relative stability as established in the late 1990s. At the time, Ireland had no track record of commercial fishing for bluefin and, accordingly, did not receive a quota allocation.  The only way to obtain a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Fish Quotas (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: It is 60 tonnes.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Fish Quotas (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: For clarification, we are putting in place a catch-tag-release fishery, which will facilitate the angling tourism product to which the Deputy referred. The allocation of a permanent quota is made through the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, ICAT. The European Union is one of, I think, nearly 50 participating bodies in the negotiations for the allocation of a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Fish Quotas (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: We do have a by-catch quota which is necessary for those who fish for albacore tuna and those involved in herring fisheries. We have a by-catch quota of 60 tonnes, but we do not have a designated bluefin tuna quota.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inshore Fisheries (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I was delighted to receive a presentation on the strategy for the inshore fisheries sector, 2019 to 2023, from the chairperson of the National Inshore Fisheries Forum at our meeting last week. I welcome the first industry-led strategy as it marks a major milestone in the work of the Inshore Fisheries Forum. Since its inception in 2014, the forum has developed initiatives which seek to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inshore Fisheries (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I appreciate the scale of the industry to which the Deputy refers because when I meet representatives of the National Inshore Fisheries Forum, they come with all of its constituent members in the north-east, north-west, south-west and south-east regional forums who all bring a unique perspective to the work of the national forum. The Deputy will be aware of the potential. We recently took a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inshore Fisheries (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I appreciate that it is a significant opportunity. It is now for the industry to grab it by the scruff of the neck. For many years it has been in the shadow of the larger fishing industries and the established producer organisations which do great work for the larger sectors, but this is a unique sector which has potential to create employment in local communities. The establishment of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Industry (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I am fully committed to supporting the beef sector. I am conscious that 2018 was a difficult year for the suckler beef sector, particularly in terms of unprecedented weather events which resulted in increased input costs owing to fodder shortages. We must also acknowledge the exposure of the sector to Brexit impacts. One of the unique strengths of the agrifood sector has been the shared...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: The licence to which Deputy Aindrias Moynihan refers for the Toon Valley wood is a thinning licence and it remains suspended pending an investigation by the Forest Service.