Results 2,241-2,260 of 23,915 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: The change relates to the just transition aspect of it because the carbon tax has been plugged into ACRES. Specifically, €110 million is being profiled into ACRES over its lifetime. It is just the profiling of the just transition fund that has led to that drop.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: I take the Deputy's point. Some of our allocation was front-loaded. That is part of the reason less of it is being spent this year.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: I acknowledge Deputy Flaherty’s advocacy on behalf of the sheep sector in advance of the budget last year. I think across the board we welcome the fact that we were able to deliver that €20 and the doubling from what it was a couple of years prior. The decision to include all 46,000 applicants in ACRES was important. It was important to back all of those who applied last...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: It is a reduction in BAR. This is subhead A3, which is food safety, animal and plant health and animal welfare. It is down 17%. That reflects €20 million that was allocated last year under the Brexit adjustment reserve to fund a meat and bonemeal disposal project. That was spent last year, so it is not included this year and accounts for the reduction.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: I had about €50 million in the budget for the start of last year. It was a very challenging year in respect of reactor numbers. When we did the Supplementary Estimates here at the end of last year, I reallocated an extra €22 million to that. That €71 million is the total at the end of the Supplementary Estimates. We have €57 million plugged in at the start of...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: It is €113 million in 2024.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes. That was for smaller measures. That is a 42% cut but it is based on a smaller overall figure of just over €6.5 million. The carbon tax remains constant but the change is a result of the just transition funding, which was front-loaded last year.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: It has been going for two or three years now.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: The carbon tax is programmed in now to 2030.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: In this CAP, we have put 50% extra funding into ACRES. Payments across the general scheme are expected to average about €5,500. We expect payments across the co-operation scheme to be more in the region of €7,000, on average. With the 50,000 to be in that over the course of the scheme, that is accounting for a 50% increase-----

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: We would need to get more of the carbon tax to do that. In regard to ACRES, compared with GLAS we have 50% extra funding for that now, so that is being spread across. On the co-operation project, that is significantly higher than what was there for people in GLAS. The general scheme is also a good deal higher than what would have been there for people in GLAS previously. There are still...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: There is a mechanism in place so that many farmers are sheltered from the carbon tax. Contractors are not, and we know the issue there. There is a challenge there, but for farmers there is the double accounting mechanism which allows carbon tax to be counted and taxed in a way that can remove that carbon tax from farmers. However, the wider carbon tax is coming into the farming sector but...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: On the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, we are scheduled to pay approximately €5 million to SBCI in 2024. That is for the growth and sustainability loan scheme. It is covered by €10.5 million of savings from the agriculture cashflow support loan scheme. That accounts for that. We have a couple of really good schemes, such as the future growth loan support scheme,...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: Does the Deputy mean the overall profile of it?

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: No. I had a meeting with the team last week and I expect the budget to be fully accounted for. We were, thankfully, able to accept everybody in but we are at the budget in terms of-----

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: We have about 19,000 at the moment, roughly.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: There are a few-----

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes, with the 50% extra increase we received for CAP agreed at Government level, we profile the different schemes. We have a budget the SCEP scheme. I met with the team last week to look at what the likely projections are around this. At the moment it appears to be heading to be on the button in terms of CAP. However, if I can free up any more money and if there are any new entrants, I...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Charlie McConalogue: We had €249 million at the end of last year. We are projecting that at the start of this year but everybody who applies will get it in the same way as before. We may need to adjust it. It is a set payment every year for the full five years. We expect to manage the budget around that but there is no change there.