Results 22,321-22,340 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: If one is replacing an old wooden vessel with a modern steel hull, the hull shape will have moved on. The boat will be a different shape for a start, and the same capacity can be obtained with a narrower hull. Primarily, what people would like here - I can understand why they are looking for it - is to build bigger boats that have the capacity to catch more fish but that are also safer and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: What point is the Senator raising?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: We can get into the architecture of fishing boats if the Chairman wants-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: -----but, ultimately, people want to build bigger boats. That is what the Chairman is saying. People want to build bigger boats because they are saying they are safer, and they probably are safer, but on that basis we would be allowing the whitefish capacity to be bought up and used to build bigger boats for the pelagic segment. We do not have more quota in the pelagic segment, so we would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: I will happily look at this, and we will go through a consultation process if the group of people who are looking for this change can at least convince some of the producer organisations, who are there to represent the industry and its interests, that this is worth serious consideration, and if we can get some traction from other stakeholders in the industry. That is not an unreasonable...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy asked that question already and I said I would do it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: If Deputy Ó Cuív is saying the reason no PO is supporting this is that they are all internally conflicted, that is the point I am making. There is more than one view here. The Deputy is only representing one view, which I find extraordinary. On the actual views within POs across the country which have concerns in relation to this and which will have some members that support it,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: There is an opportunity to create artisan products from a pelagic fishery, such as lime mackerel, which the craft he is concerned about may find relevant. The Marine Survey Office may have issues in regard to safety but that is ultimately the responsibility of boat owners. One cannot have a situation where somebody comes to me and asks for more capacity because the Marine Survey Office,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: It should be. It starts in July and essentially we will have people on boats so that when the fishermen hit problems with the obligation to land fish they will measure how it impacts on quota, particularly in mixed fisheries.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Marine Institute would have observers on boats, working with fishermen to try to understand the practical complexities of the obligation to land. There will be practical complexities. I refer to the Celtic Sea, which is often used as an example because it is a good one, where fishermen are catching cod, haddock and whiting. Whiting is separate as it is a slightly different shape from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: Policing that will be a challenge, of course. It was really important for the fishing industry that there was a de minimis figure because there needs to be a release valve. When one uses all the management tools that are available in terms of cross-species quota management, inter annual quota management and all the options of technical conservation measures are exhausted, it is important...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: Let us be honest. The producer organisations are cautious about this because they know it will be difficult to implement. They will have to push their members, which I hope they do. The alternative is much worse. The idea that we would not try to implement this directive and that it would become an enforcement issue for the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority - that is not a route we want...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: If they do, the Commission is obliged to intervene, as it must ensure fair treatment for everyone. If a trawler is breaking the rules and is due penalty points, it should receive them. If the Deputy sends me the details of the case concerned, I will follow up on it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: I assure the Deputy that my job is to ensure that the Irish fleet is not treated differently from others in our waters. We will do everything we can to ensure that this is the case. Some of the SFPA's activity in detaining large pelagic vessels this year has shown a willingness in this regard. If there is a case involving a Danish vessel, I am unfamiliar with the details, so the Deputy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Landing Obligation Update and Fishing Fleet Management: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: We will certainly consider what we can do to ensure that the same rules are apply.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Bodies (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 300, 301 and 336 together. As I previously said in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 495 of 9 June 2015, I am satisfied that arrangements for corporate governance oversight of agencies under the aegis of my Department are appropriate. I also re-iterate my statement on the independence of the performance of the functions of Sea-Fisheries Protection...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Control of Dogs (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: One of the primary purposes of the Microchipping of Dogs Regulations 2015 is to speed up the reunification of stray dogs with their owners. Therefore scanning dogs for microchipping is a normal procedure for dog pounds when stray dogs are presented. The obligation to check for the identity of the owner of a dog is already contained in the Control of Dogs Act 1986 which requires that a dog...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: TAMS Administration (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: I am pleased to say that there has been a high level of interest in the Farm Safety Scheme with over 6,200 applications received. To date over 4,600 approvals have issued to applicants to undertake work under the scheme and the local offices of my Department are querying further applications with farmers with a view to ensuring that as many applicants as possible undertake measures to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Bord na gCon (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: Bord na gCon is a commercial State body, established in 1958 under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. The question of works on tracks is a matter for Bord nag Con. Bord na gCon has informed me that tracks are regularly upgraded and improved to enhance the standard and spectacle of racing.  In...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: On-farm Investment Schemes (30 Jun 2015)

Simon Coveney: I am pleased to say that I have just announced the opening of the new TAMS II Dairy Equipment Scheme yesterday, 29 June 2015. This is the second of the new Targeted Modernisation Schemes (TAMS II) to be launched under the new Rural Development Programme 2014 - 2020. An indicative allocation of €50m is being made available under the terms of this Scheme over the full RDP period. The...