Results 16,581-16,600 of 23,995 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I will ask Ms Robinson to come in and give a further update. We engaged with the original Groceries Code Adjudicator, Christine Tacon, who set up the office and pioneered it. We took some advice from her on the approach we have taken in the Bill. I will ask Ms Robinson to add to what I have said.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Something that is really important in the legislation is that it gives the capacity to amend and adapt the unfair trading practices that are listed as we go along. It is essential that we take feedback and monitor what is happening in the marketplace. We must work to ensure there is fairness and no unfair practices. Where we identify practices that need to be addressed or included, we will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The key point is the effectiveness of the office and the work it does, not necessarily its title. I have heard a lot of floating of the regulator idea, including a meat regulator. However, when one probes further, there is very little detail as to what is meant by that and the substance of what is being suggested. The key point is that we have an office that brings transparency and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: First, there was evidence and case law assessed around the introduction of minimum unit pricing for alcohol, for example, that indicated and gave a strong basis that if we were introducing minimum pricing, it needed be for health reasons as opposed to other reasons, and that if we were doing it for other reasons, it would constitute market interference. Minimum unit pricing would seem...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: A key role will be to examine and shine a light on what is happening in the supply chain. The way to do so is to assess where the market is at and trace that back. Also, the body will monitor changes over time, analyse the dynamic behind them, assess whether the changes are related and shine a light on the situation. That is going to be a key function of this office. Also, the office will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: There are world markets for a lot of products such as grain, milk, etc. and the prices tend to equalise. For example, the price of milk around the world is similar. Therefore, one does not expect too much variation in what happens. The key thing, particularly concerning anti-competitiveness or cartel-like behaviour, is people coming together to keep prices lower than what they should be.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I ask Mr. Kinsella to comment on the role played by competition law, etc. I do think that having an independent office generates credibility. It keeps a close watch on the market, shines a light on what happens in the market and monitors all of that. Such work can be very helpful in identifying what is happening in the market and the dynamics. One can move from paying above the European...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Therefore, having a separate office that can and does price reporting, and can examine a matter, shine a light on it and speak with authority about what is happening will be a good thing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The new office can make reports and recommendations to the CCPC and my Department. This is about having an office that can trace and assess what happens in the market, assess movements in the international market, into which we sell and that determines our price, and then being able to call out and put pressure in terms of what happens there. Obviously cartel-like behaviour is a criminal...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: It will have in terms of the unfair trading practices that are listed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: There is also broader capacity. There is a legal requirement to collate that information but there is broader capacity for it to commission reports outside of that and seek further information. One of the key capacities here is going to be the proactive capacity to assess what is going on in the market. One of the legal requirements as a starting point is to be an authoritative collector...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Agriculture Schemes (13 Jul 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I inform the Deputy that the Agriculture Appeals Office operates independently of the Department. The Office has responsibility for agriculture appeals and in addition, the Office provides administrative and secretariat support to the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) which was established in February 2018. In addition to their agriculture appeal functions, Appeals Officers are also...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Climate Change Policy (13 Jul 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The salaries of senior management management in Government Departments and Ministers and Ministers of State are determined in accordance with public pay policy which is a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The senior management team in my Department is led by the Secretary General. My Department has a diverse portfolio which supports our mission in leading, enabling...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Climate Change Policy (13 Jul 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Teagasc was established under the “Agriculture (Research, Training and Advice) Act”, 1988, as the national agency with responsibility for the provision of research, training and advisory services to the agriculture and food industry. Delivery of the Teagasc Green Cert programme is an operational matter for Teagasc. Accordingly, the question raised by the Deputy has been...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Climate Change Policy (13 Jul 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy will be aware that funding of €100,000 was committed in Budget 2021 to conduct a review of the potential demand in domestic and international markets for wool-based products such as insulation and fertilisers. Following a competitive public procurement procedure, ‘The Agile Executive’ a consortium made up of experts from Munster Technological University and...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (13 Jul 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Animal welfare is high on my agenda. We commit considerable resources as well as funding to address the issue. The Programme for Government commitment to double the funding allocated to animal welfare organisations over a two year period was based on the 2020 budget allocation of €2.435m. Savings elsewhere in my Department's vote enabled the eventual awarding of €3.2 million...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Labelling (13 Jul 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The management and operation of the sustainable beef and lamb assurance scheme (SBLAS), of which there are approximately 53,000 members. is an operational matter for Bord Bia. A core element of the SBLAS is a sustainability audit which features a carbon footprint measurement. The primary objective of the carbon footprint measurement is to enable the quantification of all of the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (13 Jul 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: On 13th June, I announced the opening of applications for the Pig Exceptional Payment Scheme 2 (PEPS2), funded from EU exceptional adjustment aid to producers in agricultural sectors which have been impacted by Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine A total fund of €13 million is being made available for this voluntary scheme for pig farmers, to support the viability of this...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (13 Jul 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The causal agent for the dieback and death of Japanese larch is an organism named Phytophthora ramorumwhich was first detected on Japanese larch in Ireland in 2010. Since then my Department has inter aliaconducted annual surveys for its presence in the private and public forest estate and is doing so again this year. A component of the annual survey is informed by reports from owners which...