Results 17,341-17,360 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: I am slow to put on the record the detail of what is being investigated as the Garda is involved.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: I will brief the Deputy afterwards if he so wishes. We will try to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible and work with gardaí to do so. This is public money being spent and it is co-financed by European budgets. We must ensure invoices are real and that the numbers of trees and hedgerow plants supposedly purchased are planted, so we are paying for work that is done. There...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: In essence, that has happened. We conducted an investigation and, as a result, we were satisfied that the file needed to be handed over to the Garda for investigation. Hopefully, this case can be fully investigated quickly and we can get to the bottom of it and sort out the payments of any farmers who may have got caught up in it in an unfair way or inadvertently. If people are drawing...

Other Questions: GLAS Eligibility (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: Under the rural development regulations, the protection of water quality is one of the priorities to be addressed in the agri-environment programmes of all member states. GLAS is Ireland's new and innovative agri-environment scheme. Two GLAS actions are specifically designed to address the risk of what is known as point pollution in rivers, that is, pollution directly related to bovine...

Other Questions: GLAS Eligibility (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: It is wrong to say that we are not protecting underground watercourses. Under cross compliance provisions and other EU directives, farmers have serious responsibilities in respect of protecting them and they are very much aware of that. We can only do so much with GLAS. We had to prioritise and we sat down with EPA officials and spoke to representatives of the NGO community and farming...

Other Questions: GLAS Eligibility (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: Deputy Naughten suggests that GLAS is designed for arable farmers. When one talks to arable farmers, one does not get that reaction. We are prioritising commonage farmers here. We are prioritising farmers in SACs. If anything, there has been an emphasis on grass-based agriculture in disadvantaged areas. It is simply not true to say that only a third of farmers in AEOS can apply for...

Other Questions: GLAS Eligibility (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: AEOS was only ever a fraction of that.

Other Questions: GLAS Eligibility (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: We cannot design a scheme for one county. We have to design a national scheme that has something in it for every county.

Other Questions: GLAS Eligibility (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: There is a lot in this for Roscommon, Galway, Donegal and the west. If one looks at the process around the design of GLAS and where we have taken most time in terms of consultation, amendment and change, it has been all about ensuring we are facilitating the west. I do not accept that criticism.

Other Questions: Dairy Sector (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: Deputy McEntee has been raising this matter consistently with me for the past few months. I very much appreciate the important contribution the Teagasc advisory service is making in assisting the development of the agriculture and food sector and in providing advice and support to farm families, particularly at this time, given the opportunities there are for expansion and growth. The...

Other Questions: Dairy Sector (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: Meath has approximately 520 dairy farms, many of which will be planning for expansion and growth. All of these will want to do so on the back of a good business plan, working with their advisory service to ensure it is done in a way that is sustainable, profitable and well managed. Teagasc faces multiple challenges, including helping people to put GLAS applications together. It has a...

Other Questions: Agrifood Sector (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for asking the question. We have already had a discussion on it. When the Food Harvest 2020 targets were set and the policy was put in place by the previous Government, the three buzzwords were smart, green and growth. This is fundamentally what we are trying to do in agriculture. We are trying to get growth while ensuring it is based on innovation and new and better...

Other Questions: Agrifood Sector (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: We have been making those arguments quite successfully. The EU plans to set very ambitious targets for 2030. I think it is right to do so. We have insisted that the complete picture from land use will be factored into those targets. We have had a very active afforestation programme, for example. This has essentially involved planting forests on agricultural land. That has a significant...

Other Questions: Agrifood Sector (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: Agriculture faces and will continue to face challenges with regard to the sustainability, environmental consequences and management of food production. That is why we have special areas of conservation and we protect species like pearl mussels, breeding waders and hen harriers. The restrictions that are imposed on farmers to protect vulnerable species are very controversial in some parts of...

Other Questions: Agrifood Sector (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: This is part of the challenge of farming in the European Union.

Other Questions: Agrifood Sector (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: It is also part of the compensation package that we hope to be able to provide to farmers for those restrictions to protect valuable wildlife. That is an important part of farming here and people need to understand it. Having said that, I intend to take the significant opportunities that are available in the different sectors. Last week, we launched an energy crops support package for...

Other Questions: GLAS Applications (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: There is actually but we will wait to see how it goes. I acknowledge the importance of the role of agricultural advisers in GLAS, the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme. Their professional expertise and experience are vital to the preparation of reliable GLAS applications that fully comply with regulatory and scheme requirements. That is why I have made it mandatory for all GLAS...

Other Questions: GLAS Applications (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: I asked the same question but my understanding is one cannot have a later date. As one is linked to the other, the GLAS application has to be finalised first and then the basic payment after that. We could push them back into June but that then has consequences for registration. I would expect planners to get far more than one application per day. The fact that an average of about 700...

Other Questions: GLAS Applications (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: I am not sure how the Deputy proposes I prioritise them.

Other Questions: GLAS Applications (31 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: Many farmers in the Deputy's area will be finalising commonage GLAS plans after they have applied and after the deadline. They might be finalising those plans into July. Is the Deputy suggesting that we discriminate against those people in terms of the opening date? I hope he not suggesting this. The point I am making is that we will get this system approved as soon as we can but we will...