Results 27,101-27,120 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes Payments (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: The changes were required in the case of REPS plans, not AEOS plans. That is my understanding. The payments being made will be managed by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, not my Department. The Deputy can table a question to the Minister, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, if he wants to obtain exact figures.

Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes Payments (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: Yes, I will come back to the Deputy on that matter. We will certainly take a very practical approach to it. We are looking at changing commonage framework plans across the country. That process will probably be rolled out in the next 18 months. We cannot do it overnight; we will certainly not instruct farmers overnight. We will work with them in commonage areas to make the appropriate...

Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes Payments (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: This is a complex issue but one with which we have to deal. The discussion process is under way. We have been talking to farm organisations about the best way to do this. I have made it clear within the Department that we are not simply going to send letters to everybody in commonage areas instructing them that there is a change in the stocking rate on their commonage. As the two Deputies...

Other Questions: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: I have explained why there is a delay. The Deputy has been a Minister and he has a pretty good understanding of how the schemes work. There is an application process after which the applications are validated and a series of checks are required before payments can issue. This is because a significant portion of the payments come through the European Commission. We simply cannot pay when...

Other Questions: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy is a great man to try to sow worry into farmers' minds. We will give more detail of the GLAS scheme next week when we have further publication of the details of the rural development programme. When the GLAS scheme is up and running it will spend approximately €250 million or €260 million a year. It is a huge scheme. We will try to get as many farmers into it as...

Other Questions: Common Agricultural Policy Reform (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: It is a very fair question. We are in the process of finalising Pillars 1 and 2 at present. The more complex element is Pillar 2 with regard to rural development funding, which is approximately €4 billion, 46% of which comes from the Exchequer. We hope to have it finalised so we can send a package for approval by the Commission for Pillars 1 and 2 by the end of June. I believe the...

Other Questions: Common Agricultural Policy Reform (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: We have had more consultation with farmers and other stakeholders on this CAP reform than on any other agriculture reform. I have spent much time meeting farming organisations and meeting farmers who are not members of farming organisations. We have had a written submission process as well as multiple consultation processes. Next week we will publish a very close to final document as a...

Other Questions: Common Agricultural Policy Reform (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: He has raised a hope that we can fundamentally change direction at the last minute-----

Other Questions: Common Agricultural Policy Reform (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: -----which we cannot do.

Other Questions: Common Agricultural Policy Reform (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: We will not see a whole series of very public stakeholder meetings in the weeks before we finalise a document. We will publish what we have next week and stakeholders, farmers and farming organisations will have an opportunity, if they wish, to express concerns about it. We are at the 11th hour in finalising a comprehensive submission. This has been a two-year process, and my officials...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: No, as we must first know how much money we have and then we must prioritise how to spend it. The industry and stakeholders will be part of the discussion. We should know how much money we have to spend by the middle of the year and we will then put in train a process to decide how we spend it by the end of the year. It would be irresponsible of me to start making commitments before I even...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: I am not ruling that out.

Other Questions: Farms Data (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: One of the major challenges facing the agriculture sector is its age profile. Central Statistics Office, CSO, data indicates that the average age of farmers rose from 50 to 54 between 2000 and 2010. More than half were aged 55 years or older, whereas more than a quarter were aged over 65 years. The number of farmers under 35 years more than halved to less than 6% of farmers. There are a...

Other Questions: Farms Data (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: Both the need for generational change and more land mobility are key challenges as part of the Food Harvest 2020 plan. This relates to improving productivity and getting younger farmers who are in many cases more dynamic, better educated, more ambitious and with a better understanding of the complex challenges surrounding food security, climate change, animal welfare and a series of other...

Other Questions: Farms Data (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: Yes, that is the intention. We will not rush the process for the sake of getting it done. The intention is to have the review for the upcoming budget.

Other Questions: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: The scheme was launched on 15 October 2012 with a closing date for receipt of applications of 30 November 2012, subsequently extended by me to 7 December 2012. These payments are subject to very stringent EU audit standards, which is to be expected given that these are co-funded schemes. All area-based schemes under the existing rural development programme are subject to EU regulations...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Single Payment Scheme Administration (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: That is not the point.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Single Payment Scheme Administration (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: This is about accuracy, public money being drawn down and land that was not eligible.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Single Payment Scheme Administration (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: I will not take a barracking from the Deputy. The Deputy is trying to spin this into some kind of anti-small-farmer agenda, which is absolute nonsense.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Single Payment Scheme Administration (8 May 2014)

Simon Coveney: I am giving the Deputy an answer, so he should listen. This is about public money being drawn down on land that was not eligible. We can see it is not eligible because of the accuracy of maps. The European Commission is insisting on asking for its money back plus penalties. For countries that cannot do that, it is applying very significant fines. I am trying to ensure we minimise the...