Results 15,741-15,760 of 18,593 for speaker:Michael Creed

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Beef Industry (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: I answered it. There is a commitment to pay the €50 million.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Beef Industry (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: Yes. Do not worry.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Beef Data and Genomics Programme (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: I thank the Deputy. BDGP I and BDGP II commenced in 2015 and 2017, respectively, and both will run for six years. They represent a significant commitment for participating farmers over the duration of the programmes. The number of active participants in BDGP I and II fluctuates on an ongoing basis as a result of participants withdrawing or being disqualified for non–compliance from...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Beef Data and Genomics Programme (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: This is a very important scheme, albeit it may not be perfect. Unfortunately, only approximately one in three suckler farmers are in the scheme. Nevertheless, the data from the programme are showing real progress. In participating herds, calving interval days have been reduced by 20 days. That is a significant efficiency. The number of calves per cow in programme herds has increased...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Beef Data and Genomics Programme (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: We need to be careful because we want to encourage farmers to avail of schemes such as this. The Deputy seems to be intent on talking down the achievements of the scheme, although I am not saying it is perfect, but we can learn from its imperfections when putting together its next iteration. The savings will be modest. The number of participants in the scheme has decreased from just over...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Agreements (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: I appreciate that we had an discussion on this matter yesterday and I am sure we will have more engagements on it after Question Time. Such debates reflect the significance of the issue. On the evening of Friday, 28 June, the European Commission announced that political agreement had been reached on a trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur countries. As a small open economy,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Agreements (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: The Deputy will not find me defending the indefensible. I have stated my view clearly. I have a responsibility to use the time available to us following the announcement of a headline agreement between the European Commission and Mercosur states to ensure everything is done to frustrate and mitigate, dismantle the ambition and protect the interests of the Ibeef sector. As I said, the deal...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Agreements (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: The Deputy might be throwing in the towel, but I am not. I appreciate the context his experience at European level lends to his views, but we can try to find common cause. I understand why the Deputy is focusing from a political perspective on the Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner, but there is also a Trade Commissioner. The Deputy's extensive contacts in Europe may be of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Knackery Industry (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: Category 2 intermediate plants, knackeries, and collection centres are approved and supervised by my Department in accordance with the EU Animal By-Products Regulations (EC) No. 1069 of 2009 and its implementing Regulation (EU) No. 142 of 2011, which lay down the health rules as regards animal by products and derived products not intended for human consumption. Category 2 intermediate...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Knackery Industry (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: In the context of the broader exposé and the public service journalism conducted by RTÉ in that "Prime Time" programme the Department will give no comfort to anybody shown in that programme who is in breach of regulations. The content of the programme has been rightly commented on as being grotesquely offensive to people in the industry and to society in general, and in the context...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Knackery Industry (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: They perform a really critical function in the operation of the broader agrifood sector. There is a specific focus on their activities and the legality around their dealing with the putting down and disposal of greyhounds. Insofar as there may be shortcomings in our regulations and a requirement to prosecute where there are breaches of the law, the Department is considering all those...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Industry (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: I propose to take Questions Nos. 49, 50, 53, 56, 62, 81, 83, 87 and 88 together. I am keenly aware that the past few months have been very challenging for beef farmers in particular, following a difficult year for farm incomes in 2018 due to weather conditions. There was a prolonged and exceptional period of depressed prices lasting from autumn 2018 to spring 2019, with the ongoing...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Industry (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: I have stated repeatedly that the money is for farmers. That is my intention. Within that category, I see two distinct beneficiaries, namely, finishers and suckler cow farmers. The submission to the Commission makes clear our thinking in that context. The case is made on the relative hit both sectors took in comparison with what happened in the previous 12-month period. From memory, the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Industry (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: On the terms and conditions and supply reduction, I point the Deputy to my original reply. Our submission is on the Department’s website. It contains no proposals for supply reduction. That is a term and condition attached by the Commission. We became aware of it once it was published by the Commission. In previous interventions under the Common Market organisation, CMO,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Industry (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: My thought process is that it is manageable. We managed it in the dairy industry without damaging the sector and can also manage it in the beef sector. The Department has extraordinary levels of data for stocking densities on all farms. By the creative management of individual farmers’ stocking requirements, it is possible to deal with the issue in a way that will not inflict any...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Industry (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: The conditionality set by the Commission is in the public realm, but the scheme has yet to be devised. The schemes we have devised, including the beef environmental efficiency programme, are straightforward. Our ambition will be to have the scheme as straightforward as possible for those who have taken the hit, namely, finishers and those who suffered back along the line in producing...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Industry (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: I will start with the last question. The submission we made to the Commission quantified the relative hits that finishers and producers of weanlings, particularly from the suckler herd, had taken. While I do not want to stand up here and say I have the scheme now, broadly speaking, that will be reflected in the final shape insofar as targeting the €100 million where the hit impacted...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Felling Licences (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: The felling and thinning of trees is an activity that is governed by the Forestry Act 2014 and the accompanying forestry regulations of 2017. My Department is the consent authority for the issuing of felling licences and does so in accordance with detailed procedures that take account of relevant environmental regulations and the principles of sustainable forest management. There are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Felling Licences (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: The Deputy will forgive me if I am not familiar chapter and verse with BusConnects. However, there is an increasing awareness in society generally and in public bodies of the requirement to do the right thing by the environment. Broadly speaking, I have found local authorities to be aware of tree management in urban settings. Sometimes the awareness is not communicated in terms of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Felling Licences (3 Jul 2019)

Michael Creed: I do not often have the opportunity to engage with Deputy Broughan on agriculture questions. It is useful to exchange information because there is a view that the agricultural sector is indifferent to biodiversity and is facilitated by a Department that also does not have an interest in it. However, nothing could be further from the case. Under the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme,...