Results 28,281-28,300 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: Nothing was drawn down and we do not expect anything will be drawn down this year either.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: However, we are keeping the budget line. Intervention is now somewhat of a non-issue.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: No. It is included in the Estimate, but the money is coming from central funds. We are responsible for spending the money and have sanction to spend up to €40 million. If we do not deal with the environmental issue - it is essentially a toxic landfill site in the middle of Cork Harbour without a licence - we will be fined by the Commission. We are, therefore, required to deal with...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: That is a good approach. Local authorities have a great deal of information on the harbours for which they are responsible. We have an estimate of the damage caused to that infrastructure in the past six weeks and are continuing to work on it. The Deputy and I share an interest in marine, coastal and island communities and the infrastructure they need. We are preparing a detailed...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: Yes.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: There are different durations but the average is approximately ten years.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: I am not sure that solves the immediate problem. Within the next five to ten years we will hopefully have a streamlined and much more efficient system of assessing licence applications and in terms of re-assessing applications. I am slow to give someone a licence for the next 25 or 30 years. We need the checks and balances of a re-application. We will examine that. I am not opposed to it.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: Other EU countries do not have the pressure we have from the Commission regarding putting a gold-plated aquaculture licensing system in place.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: Because in the past this was not done well and the Commission took us to court and won. It now requires us to put in place a much more robust and environmentally sound licensing system. I agree with it on that, but it involves resources and a lot of time for the assessment of bays. We will do that and will try to increase the resources to do it. I have spoken to the Marine Institute about...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: They are, very much so.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: It is because we have been under the Commission's microscope while some other countries have not been. That is the honest truth.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: Had we not been as loose about this licensing system in the past, we would not be under the microscope now, but I have to deal with what I have to deal with as a Minister. Seafood processing has been a good news story. In the last two years we have spent a lot of money helping seafood processing by giving companies grant-aid assistance to upgrade their equipment and so on. That is part of...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: Yes, but it is not demand-led without a backstop. We have only so much money to spend. We are looking to increase horticulture grant aid. We are importing a lot of horticulture in Ireland. We provide for only approximately 60% of our domestic needs here. We can increase that. That is why we are examining grant aiding the development of more horticultural facilities such as polytunnels...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: In regard to REPS, we are budgeting for all the payments due to the remaining farmers in REPS this year. That figure will drop dramatically into next year but it still requires a substantial amount of money to meet the estimated €184 million in payments. The allocation for AEOS will increase by €10 million because of the increased payments we anticipate making this year as the...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: I am looking at the Estimate figures as opposed to the number of farmers.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: If their payments are due in 2014, the answer is "Yes". We are trying to pay farmers coming out of REPS as quickly as we can. We will have to accommodate the hangover payments that go into 2015 but there will be a new scheme by then.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: It has to provide for them. We are on a contractual basis with those farmers.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: The intention is to pay them as soon as we are able.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: The installation aid and early retirement schemes are being wound down.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (21 Jan 2014) Simon Coveney: If the question is whether we will have a REPS budget to make final payments next year, we will of course have such a budget.