Results 16,001-16,020 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Emergency Planning (17 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: I chair the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning, which includes senior officials of Government Departments, senior officers of An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces and officials of other key public authorities, which have a lead or support role in Government emergency planning. The Government Task Force on Emergency Planning meets on a regular basis. The next meeting...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Strength (17 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: The tables below set out the strength of the Permanent Defence Force as of 31 October, 2014, the latest date for which figures are available, across all three services and ranks, broken down by gender. The figures provided are for whole time equivalent posts. Army Rank Male Female Total Lieutenant General 1 0 1 Major General 2 0 2 Brigadier General 6 0 6 Colonel 32 0...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Reserve Strength (17 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: The tables below set out the effective strength of the Reserve Defence Force as of 31 October, 2014, the latest date for which figures are available, in both the Army Reserve and the Naval Service Reserve broken down by rank and gender. Army Reserve Rank Male Female Total Lieutenant Colonel 5 0 5 Commandant 34 0 34 Captain 97 4 101 Lieutenant 182 31 213 Sergeant Major...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: EU Meetings (17 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: The next informal meeting of Defence Ministers will be hosted by Latvia as part of their Presidency of the EU Council and will take place in Riga on the 18thand 19thFebruary 2015. The agenda has not yet issued. However, as with previous meetings, it is assumed that Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) Missions and Operations will be on the Agenda. Current EU Military operations are...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Overseas Missions (17 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: As of 1 December 2014, Ireland is contributing approximately 427 Defence Forces personnel to 11 missions throughout the world. Full details of all personnel currently serving overseas including the lead organisation for each mission are listed in the tabular statement. The main overseas missions in which Defence Forces personnel are currently deployed are the United Nations Interim Force in...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Recruitment (17 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: A new recruitment campaign for Enlisted Personnel in both the Permanent and Reserve Defence Force was launched in March 2014. The Military Authorities have advised that, to date, from this recruitment campaign a total of 443 recruits have been inducted to the Permanent Defence Force, of which 360 remain in training. A total of 152 personnel have been inducted to the Reserve Defence Force. ...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dairy Sector (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy from raising this important issue. Prices in dairy markets are impacted on by global events. We sell dairy products throughout the world, as well as in the European Union. Factors such as production levels in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and the European Union, on the back of very good harvests and quite good weather for the past two years, have meant that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dairy Sector (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: -----to use aid to private storage, from which Irish companies have benefited significantly.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dairy Sector (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: Several Members asked the same question.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dairy Sector (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: It is important that we do not talk ourselves into a crisis. The price in Ireland are still above 30 cent a litre. We are in a period during which many dairy farmers are in drystock farming and not as much milk is being produced. The key issues are anticipating what the price will be for milk in the spring and allowing co-ops to offload much of the produce they have in storage, whether it...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dairy Sector (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: Yes.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dairy Sector (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: I have spoken to Commissioner Hogan about these issues on many occasions in the past couple of weeks. I am glad to say we speak regularly. The intervention I made this week, when I called for an open mind on the use of intervention measures, is on record. If this tool is to be used, there should be a realistic intervention price, as otherwise it will act as a price drag in reality. Nobody...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Milk Prices (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: Yes. I can go into it in a little more detail.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Milk Prices (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: It is important to be accurate. Teagasc has stated it thinks the average price next year will be 27 cent a litre. Everybody is predicting that prices will get stronger at the back end of the year, but the price might fall below 27 cent a litre. On the basis of what Teagasc is predicting, this might not be the bottom, but it might not necessarily come to pass. There has been a slight...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Milk Prices (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: It is important to note that the Common Agricultural Policy has been designed to try to bring income balance to farmers also. This is one of the reasons we have direct payments. I remind the House that the average dairy farmer in Ireland receives a direct payment of €18,000 a year. That is the average payment. Some of the bigger guys receive much higher payments. Teagasc has...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Milk Prices (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: Yes.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Milk Prices (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for being constructive. That is exactly what we are trying to do. For almost two years Glanbia has been encouraging its members to lock a portion of their milk into a pricing model that guarantees a margin for farmers. When it does deals with the customers to which it sells its products on the back of that locked-in price, it locks in a price also. Its big customers -...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Green Low-carbon Agri-environment Scheme (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: We are taking close to 30,000 farmers into GLAS in the first go.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Green Low-carbon Agri-environment Scheme (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: I will go through the tiers shortly. We are trying to get as many into it as we can. There will be a second phase in which to take others, as we want to have 50,000 farmers in GLAS over the next few years. In tier 1, all farmers with priority environmental assets, PEAs, get first priority access to the scheme in year one and subsequent years. If any of the following PEAs are applicable to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Green Low-carbon Agri-environment Scheme (18 Dec 2014)

Simon Coveney: It is important to consider my record in this area. When we have had to choose who would go into schemes, we have given small farmers priority. In the past number of budgets, when we have introduced schemes, such as the agri-environment options scheme, we have given priority to the kind of farms mentioned by the Deputy. If we must choose with GLAS and implement criteria because we have...