Results 26,421-26,440 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: Area-based schemes under the Rural Development Programme, 2007-13, are subject to EU Regulations which require detailed administrative checks on all applications, including cross checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, to be completed before payments can issue. These rigorous procedures, together with on-farm inspections, apply to a number of scheme payments including the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Coillte Teoranta Lands (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: Coillte Teoranta was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act, 1988 and day-to-day operational matters, such as the management of their forest estate , are the responsibility of the company. The company has, however, advised that Coillte disposed of its leasehold of 402.92 hectares of land and trees at Kilcooley Estate , County Tipperary. Coillte further...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Coillte Teoranta Operations (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: Coillte Teoranta was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act, 1988 and day-to-day operational matters, such as the engagement of advisors as outlined in the question , are the responsibility of the company. The company has, however, advised that Coillte uses a panel of property advisors across its business to ensure that the company secures the best return on any...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: Domestic forest-based biomass makes a significant contribution to renewable energy provision. My Department has estimated that in 2013, 1.2 million cubic metres, or 34% of the annual harvest was used for energy purposes, an increase of 14% on the 2012 figure. Our projections are that by 2020 the forest-based biomass contribution will rise to 1.5 million cubic metres per annum. There are a...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Bovine Disease Controls (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: My Department provides support measures for farmers under the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) programme. In view of the limited financial resources available and the early payback in dairy herds it was decided in 2013 to focus the support measures on second and subsequent persistently infected (PI) calves removed from suckler herds. In the case of the farmer (details supplied) an application...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Industry (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: The timing of the Single Farm Payment is of critical importance to farmers and the wider rural economy, given that it represents in excess of €1.2 billion of the €1.6 billion that is paid out annually in direct aid. The SFP forms a significant part of the annual income of farmers in Ireland, in many cases it is used to subsidise the running costs of the farming enterprise and...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Land Parcel Identification System (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: The data sought by the Deputy are currently being compiled and will be furnished directly to the Deputy immediately they become available. Under the Terms & Conditions of the Direct Aid Schemes, which includes the Single Payment Scheme, farmers are obliged to declare only eligible land when making their applications, are to exclude ineligible features such as roads, buildings,...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Employment Data (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: The CSO’s Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) shows that there was an annual increase in employment of 1.7%, or 31,600, in the year to the second quarter of 2014, bringing total employment to 1,901,600. Employment increased in ten of the fourteen economic sectors over the year and fell in four. The published annual increase recorded in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Rural Development Programme Funding (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: The total profiled expenditure for 2014 for REPS is €123m and for AEOS is €61m and it is expected that the entire allocation for these Schemes will be spent in 2014. The budgetary process for 2015 is currently underway and the allocation of monies for REPS , AEOS and GLAS will be decided as part of that process.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes Eligibility (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 472, 483 and 492 together. Commonage lands form an important part of the farming enterprises of many farmers, in addition to being crucial from the point of view of bio-diversity, wildlife, amenities and tourism. A total of some 14,936 farmers declare commonage land under the Single Payment Scheme and the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme. They form a significant...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Rural Development Programme Funding (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: The process of developing the draft RDP has been a lengthy and complex one. As part of this process a comprehensive Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis , a needs assessment, and multiple stages of stakeholder consultations were carried out. This analysis served to provide a comprehensive outline of the policy context and environment underpinning the draft RDP...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Rural Development Programme Projects (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: Knowledge Transfer, as proposed in Ireland’s draft Rural Development Programme is a scheme that will result in the transfer of expertise to farmers across six different sectors. Participating farmers will attend a minimum number of knowledge exchange meetings and also complete a Farm Improvement Plan in conjunction with a qualified advisor. This is a separate scheme to GLAS and if...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Rural Development Programme Funding (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: Article 45(4) of the Rural Development regulation states that: “Beneficiaries of investment related support may request the payment of an advance of up to 50% of the public aid related to the investment from the competent paying agencies if that option is included in the rural development programme.” The provision applies to investment related support under Article 17 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Natura 2000 (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: Ireland is self-sufficient in the production of organic red meat for the home market but there is clear potential to develop the export market further. For example, in the conventional sector 90% of the beef produced is exported and in the organic sector there is clearly scope to export a multiple of what we consume at home. The challenge is to increase the scale and regularity of supply from...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes Data (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 477 to 479, inclusive, together. Following a review at EU level the Less Favoured Areas Scheme was replaced as part of the overall agreement on the CAP Reform Package. The new Scheme, to be known as Areas of Natural Constraint, is to be delineated by Member States using soil and climatic criteria, as proposed by the Commission, as follows: - Climate,...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Rural Development Policy (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: Participants in receipt of payments under the Burren Farming for Conservation Scheme may also participate in the Rural Environment Protection Scheme or the Agri-Enviro nment Options Scheme. However if an identical commitment is carried under more than one Scheme it will be funded under one Scheme only.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Rural Development Plan (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: The draft RDP was finalised by my Department and submitted to the European Commission on the 3rd of July 2014.  The shape of the various schemes proposed under the draft programme has not yet been finalised. This draft will now form the basis for a period of discussion with the Commission and the subsequent formal adoption of the RDP. Finalising the details of each scheme and securing...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes Administration (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: My officials have held meetings with the Agricultural Consultants Association and with Teagasc regarding the preparation of GLAS Commonage Management P lans and I believe there should be a sufficient complement of agricultural advisors available to carry out this important work. Only one Plan will be submitted for the entire commonage, which may be contributed to by a number of planners ,...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Rural Development Programme Funding (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: Ireland’s draft Rural Development Programme for the period 2014-2020 was submitted to the European Commission for approval in July and one of the things we have sought in the context of GLAS is greater flexibility with regard to the use of standard costs. It is proposed to use stand ard cost s for non-productive capital investments carried out under GLAS and the submission of receipts...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Aquaculture Licence Applications (17 Sep 2014)

Simon Coveney: An application by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) for an aquaculture licence for the cultivation of finfish near Inis Oirr in Galway Bay was received by my Department in 2012.  The application and its accompanying Environmental Impact Statement are being considered under the provisions of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act and the 1933 Foreshore Act. A determination in respect of the...