Results 25,481-25,500 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Other Questions: Beef Industry (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: If the Deputy is so convinced a cartel exists, he might provide some evidence of it. That is all I have to say because every time I ask for it, nobody ever produces it. Our beef industry operates in an international competitive environment. We sell product into about 70 different countries. We sell product right across Europe. The Deputy should not suggest for one minute that the...

Other Questions: Commonage Areas (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for this question. I know there are many commonage farmers in his constituency so he knows a lot about this issue. The farming of commonages lands has a long tradition in Ireland and, by its very nature, is a complex area. There are issues about the legal right to claim and there have always been disputes about the grazing of the commonages. In the vast majority of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Industry (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: It is important to record that certainly from my experience at any rate there was no intervention of any substance from a CEO of any processing company here.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Industry (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: Not that affected the discussion on this. I have had repeated discussions with Tesco on this issue. I have had Tesco representatives in my Department where we have had long meetings on this and other issues. We had a meeting with the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium whose representatives made it very clear that it was its members who decided, for the moment anyway, that because they...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Industry (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: It does not.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Industry (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: We have looked into that accusation and put systems in place to ensure factories do not have access to inappropriate information.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Industry (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: With all due respect, if we are going to make accusations, we need to have evidence to back them up. I am not saying it has not been a difficult year for beef farmers, it has. That is why I have been involved intensively throughout the summer with farming organisations and factories to try to change the structure of the sector. There has been a fractious and difficult relationship between...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fish Farming (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: 10 o’clock I have had many discussions with various players and stakeholders in the area of aquaculture as this is something Deputies and Ministers do all the time. I speak of discussions with non-governmental organisations, people with concerns relating to licensing systems and companies. This is part of my job as the Minister with responsibility for the marine, aquaculture,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fish Farming (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: I think Deputy Ó Cuív is trying to create smoke where there is none. I understand Deputy McHugh attended the meeting because the headquarters of Marine Harvest, where many people are employed, is in his constituency. I do not remember the details but I suspect Marine Harvest requested a meeting with the Taoiseach and me through Deputy McHugh. I believe such a request was also...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fish Farming (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: No, Deputy McHugh was appointed as a Minister of State with responsibility for areas relevant to his constituency. This applies to the promotion of the Irish language and his other responsibilities. Regardless of who is Minister of State, my job is to ensure there is a robust and legally sound system whereby my Department considers applications in conjunction with the relevant agencies and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fish Farming (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is also consulted.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fish Farming (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: Deputy Ó Cuív is correct but the evidence is that I have not granted a single salmon farming licence in three and a half years. He seems to be accusing me of being a patsy to the industry who waves licences through. Not one such licence has been granted. Only in the shellfish sector have licences been granted because we are putting in place a system that works, unlike the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Industry (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy is aware, there is a commercial preference at UK retail level for simple origin labelling bearing the name of a single country of origin only. It must be recognised that this commercial purchasing strategy has facilitated the sale in major UK retail outlets of large quantities of beef from cattle born, reared and slaughtered in Ireland. However, it adversely affects the market...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Industry (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for asking this question and I am very pleased to have an opportunity to outline what I think beef producers in Ireland can do. As the Deputy knows, as Minister I cannot get involved in influencing price directly. I have received two letters from the Competition Authority, which made very clear how far the beef forum can go on a series of issues and where it cannot go in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Industry (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: I and others totally disagree with the assessment of the Deputy. That is why everybody in the sector, including farming organisations, is willing to facilitate the introduction of producer organisations. The processing industry is willing to consider the proposal. It has no choice, because we are going ahead with it. The process is about increasing and improving farmer representation. It...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Beef Industry (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: There is no need for me to call the Competition Authority, although we have spoken to it, because it contacted us about the beef forum to understand what is going on. It is very plugged in and engaged on beef issues and has examined the beef market. I could quote statistics on beef prices all day in terms of average EU prices, EU 15 prices, the comparison between Ireland and Britain and so...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: EU Programmes (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: I believe the Deputy is referring to the calculation that some people have made if the Commission had implemented what it was proposing for a flat rate payment across the country.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: EU Programmes (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: It would never have happened, because the country would have been broken up into different regions, with different flat rate payments for different regions. That is a spin some people have been putting on this-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: EU Programmes (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: -----and it is not based on fact. As the Deputy knows, we have held meetings regarding the concerns of commonage and hill farmers about qualification for single farm payment, stocking rates, problems of destocking and under-grazing, eligibility for GLAS and the process of applying for GLAS payments. We have spoken about that a number of times. Deputy Kyne has also raised it with me...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: GLAS Scheme Eligibility (12 Nov 2014)

Simon Coveney: On the timing of it, I hope to get approval from the European Commission before the end of the year to enable us to open GLAS before the end of the year. I have spoken to farming organisations about the process by which farmers will apply. We are trying to let approximately 30,000 farmers into GLAS in one go. That means there could potentially be 35,000 to 40,000 applications. Each...