Results 15,321-15,340 of 23,995 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (17 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Department issued 4,050 forestry licences in 2021, which is an increase of 56% on the number issued in 2020. In terms of afforestation, the number of  licences issued remained static. This resulted in  526 afforestation licences being issued for 4,606 hectares. Ireland must improve on this, and the Department has published licence projections for 2022 which prioritises...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (17 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: An allocation of 400 tonnes for a fishery for smaller ‘inshore’ vessels (under 15 metre vessels) fishing for Mackerel by means of hooks and line was set down in Policy in 2010. The Minister is endeavouring, with the assistance of the Quota Management Advisory Committee (QMAC), to put new management arrangements in place for the management of the 2022 Mackerel Hook & Line...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (17 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: An allocation of 400 tonnes for a fishery for smaller vessels fishing for Mackerel by means of hooks and line, which is largely prosecuted by the inshore fleet including under 12 metre vessels, was set down in Policy in 2010.  The then Minister amended the Mackerel policy in July 2017 after intensive review and public consultation, however this particular amendment did not involve...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Gorse Burning (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Wildfire is an easily preventable threat to our beautiful hills and bogs and the habitats and livelihoods they sustain. Everyone must play their part in protecting our landscapes and supporting our emergency services and ensuring they are not needlessly diverted by illegal fires. There is a inherent natural risk of fire in our uplands and on bogs at this time of year, due to the condition of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Government policy is clear and consistent - animal cruelty is totally unacceptable. My Department operates a confidential animal welfare helpline through which members of the public can report incidents of suspected animal cruelty or neglect. The specific incident was reported to the Department via this helpline and is currently under investigation by Department officials and it is being...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Bodies (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Beef Taskforce was established on foot of the beef sector agreement of 15th September 2019. The Beef Taskforce's remit as set out in its terms of reference was to monitor the implementation of the actions arising from that agreement. The Beef Taskforce had 11 meetings in total between its initial one in December 2019 and the final one in July last year. I published the final report of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Programme for Government places a positive emphasis on animal welfare and specifically commits to the continued robust enforcement of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. This Act provides a modern framework for regulating and applying standards in the area of animal health and welfare and replaced a number of enactments dating back over a century. The Act was passed, after a lengthy...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Schemes (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The named person was deemed to be non-compliant with certain terms and conditions of the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) scheme in 2021. The non-compliance related the stock bull requirement. For 2021, where participants used a stock bull they were required to have at least one stock bull on the holding on 30thJune 2021 and the bull had to be genotyped 4 or 5 star on either the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Deputy may be aware, Project Woodland was established in February last year to ensure that the current forestry licensing backlog is addressed and that a new impetus is brought to woodland creation in Ireland. A national shared vision for the future of Ireland's trees and forests and a new Forestry Strategy are currently being developed by Working Group 2 of Project Woodland. This new...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Advertising (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department paid the named company €2,700 excluding VAT.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: In August 2020, the Creation of Woodlands on Public Land Scheme (CWPL) was launched. The purpose of the Scheme is to encourage Public Bodies to establish new native woodlands on suitable bare land. This aim is consistent with the Programme for Government, which sought to “embark on an ambitious programme of afforestation on state-owned lands”. Native woodlands are an...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: EU Directives (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 900, 901, 902 and 903 together. The Government is committed to ensuring fairness, equity, and transparency in the food chain. The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government includes a commitment for a new office of National Food Ombudsman to enforce the EU Directive No. 2019/633 on Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) and to have a role in analysing...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Regulatory Bodies (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As part of the ongoing and necessary working relationships, officials at all levels of my Department discuss a range of matters on a regular and routine basis with officials from the three marine agencies; Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA), Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) and the Marine Institute (MI) in relation to a variety of ongoing issues. Under the Sea Fisheries and Maritime...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Regulatory Bodies (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) is by statute independent in the exercise of its functions and as Minister I have responsibility for policy formation, resource allocation and corporate governance oversight only. The request for an organogram providing detail of SFPAs organisational structure and the total staffing by grade are matters for direct response by SFPA and...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The person named was approved to GLAS 1 with a contract commencement date of 1stOctober 2015. Processing of the 2021 Advance Payment for the person named are at an advanced stage and I expect the payment in this case to be finalised shortly. GLAS payments are continuing on a weekly basis as applications pass all validation checks and are approved for payment.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Public Services Provision (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has not received an award from the publication concerned.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The upper age limit of 40 for an eligible young farmer under CAP support schemes currently administered by my Department is set down in the EU Regulations governing the operation of the schemes and applies to all Member States. EU Regulation 2021/2115, establishing rules on support for Strategic Plans by Member States under the next CAP, allows Member States to apply an upper age limit set...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Communications (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I do have the application WhatsApp on my phone, however, I do not use the disappearing messages function.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Deputy will be aware, the Department has published a Licensing Plan for 2022. It includes a commitment to double the number of licences issued from 502 for over 4,200 hectares in 2021 to 1,040 licences in 2022. There are currently 846 afforestation applications on hand awaiting decision. Of these, 466 include at least one plot to plant GPC3.A forestry licence can, of course, have...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Communications (22 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: It is considered that the request from the Deputy for the material referred to can most appropriately be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2014. I would therefore suggest that the Deputy submit a formal FOI request to my Department in the standard manner by emailing foi@agriculture.gov.ie with full details of his request and material sought. Full consideration will then be...