Results 22,241-22,260 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Basic Payment Scheme Eligibility (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: In accordance with the EU Regulations governing the National Reserve and the Young Farmers Scheme, a young farmer is defined as a farmer aged no more than 40 years of age in the year when s/he first submits an application under the Basic Payment Scheme and who commenced their farming activity no more than five years prior to submitting that application. Priority under the National Reserve is...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishery Harbour Centres (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, owns and directly manages six Fishery Harbour Centres located at Howth, Dunmore East, Castletownbere, Ros an Mhíl, Killybegs and An Daingean. Howth Fishery Harbour Centre is a working fishery harbour, however it is also a very important tourist and leisure destination with many restaurants and businesses operating on the Harbour. ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Disease Controls (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: Ireland’s BSE surveillance and controls are thorough, effective and consistent with legal requirements and best international practice. The dramatic reduction in the prevalence of BSE from a peak of 333 cases in 2002 is proof of that.  The effectiveness of the system is further evidenced by the identification of the recent BSE case – and while it is disappointing to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Coillte Teoranta Reports (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: Coillte Teoranta was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act 1988 and, as a State owned body, the company is also subject to the ‘Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies’as issued by the Department of Finance, most recently in 2009. As responsibility for forestry falls within the remit of my Department, the Forestry Division of my...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Plant Protection Products (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: The EU regulatory system governing the authorisation, marketing and use of pesticides is the most stringent in the world. While actual product authorisation processes have been harmonised in the EU for nearly 30 years now, the harmonisation of the use of such products across the Member States is a relatively more recent development. The main regulations pertaining to “Plant...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Special Protection Areas Designation (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Hen Harrier is a ground nesting bird of prey of upland open moorland. The species is listed in Annex 1 of the Birds Directive, meaning that the bird is subject to special conservation measures which require, amongst other things, that Member States designate special protection areas (SPAs) for their conservation. The designation of such lands is a matter in the first instance for the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Data Programme (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: Almost 30,000 applications to participate in the BDGP were received in my Department by the June 5 closing date. This demonstrates a significant interest in the Programme and is consistent with the numbers that participated in the Beef Data Programmes of 2013 and 2014 and the Beef Genomics Scheme 2014. Officials in my Department are currently finalising the initial validation of all...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Animal Health & Welfare Act 2013 represents a major updating of our laws in this area going back to 1911. Under the Act coursing of a hare is permitted unless the hare is hunted or coursed in a space from which it does not have a reasonable chance of escape. The protections, such as the muzzling of greyhounds, which were introduced in 1993 have played an important role in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: GLAS Administration (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: At the outset, I would like to say that I am delighted at the interest shown by farmers in joining GLAS, with nearly 27,000 applications received in the first tranche. I am also delighted to see the range of actions which have been selected. In fact, actions addressing every single objective set out under GLAS have been selected by farmers in this first tranche, including commonages. GLAS is...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Bord na gCon Inspections (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: Bord na gCon is the statutory body responsible for the regulation and development of greyhound racing under the Greyhound Act 1958. The Control Committee and the Control Appeals Committee of Bord na gCon are established under legislation (Greyhound Industry, Control Committee and Control Appeal Committee Regulations 2007, S.I. Number 301 of 2007). These committees have powers to determine...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare Bodies (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: The focus of this year’s Animal Welfare Conference held in Farmleigh on 12 June was on the welfare of dogs and horses and on providing information to those involved in direct provision of welfare services in these areas. Invitations were extended to the 147 animal welfare organisations throughout the country involved in receipt of ex-gratia funding from my Department. This...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Inspections (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: In the context of delivering the Direct Payment Schemes and Rural Development Measures, my Department is required to carry out an annual round of inspections covering both the eligibility of the land declared to draw down payments and to ensure compliance with Cross Compliance requirements, as set down in EU legislation, and the standards for Good Agricultural Environmental Condition (GAEC),...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Rural Development Programme Funding (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: Under the regulations governing the European Structural and Investment Funds (including the Rural Development Programme - RDP ) it is open to Member States to fund interventions via financial instruments. Essentially, financial instruments offer an alternative to the traditional grant based approach whereby schemes under the RDP may be funded via loans, guarantee funds or equity investments....

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Russian Market (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: The announcement last week that the Russian ban on EU food imports will be extended for a further year to August 2016 is extremely disappointing. It has to be acknowledged that there are difficult geopolitical tensions at play here, and that a negative impact on the EU’s agri-food sector is an unfortunate consequence. There is a clear need for an EU-wide response and the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry Development (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: Atlantic bluefin tuna is a highly regulated species with annual catch limits set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) based on scientific advice. Within the EU, quota shares were allocated in 1998 to Member States based on track record. Ireland, which did not have a track record of fishing for bluefin tuna, does not have a quota. My Department has...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Dairy Sector (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: The price of milk and dairy produce is a function of the market at national, EU and international level. It is not something that the Minister for Agriculture can directly influence. I am of course monitoring market developments closely and liaising on a regular basis with farm organisations, other EU Member States and the processing sector. After two years of very strong prices,...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Staff (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: My Department has a detailed Quality Control system in place for monitoring the performance of veterinary practitioners in carrying out their duties under the TB eradication scheme or failure to comply with relevant EU and national legislation. This system provides for effective and dissuasive measures, including suspension from testing, where veterinary practitioners fail to comply with...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Milk Prices (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy is aware, the EU milk quota regime ended on March 31 last. Planning for the post quota period had been ongoing amongst all stakeholders for a number of years and I believe we have the right balance of measures in place to ensure that Irish dairy farmers can enter the new era with full confidence. Notwithstanding the overriding opportunity that a quota free environment will...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fur Farming (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: I established a Review Group in November 2011 to examine all aspects of fur farming in Ireland.  The Terms of Reference of the Review Group were: (i) To review fur farming in Ireland taking into account existing legislative provisions for the licensing of mink farming (ii) To comment on the economic benefits of the sector (iii)To consider the effectiveness of existing welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (1 Jul 2015)

Simon Coveney: The National Forest Inventory estimated the current tree cover to be 731,650 hectares or 10.5% of the total land area of Ireland. The Deputy suggests a “snapshot evaluation” using Google Earth and the Forest Service digital mapping systems. However, this is not possible as, while the Department mapping systems are underpinned by ortho-photography, a comparison cannot be made...