Results 281-300 of 4,255 for speaker:Martin Heydon

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: This brings me back to an earlier answer. There are so many moving parts here. As to speculating about whether the final MFF will be a certain structure or a different structure and what the Government response to that would be, we are still very far away from that. I assure the Deputy that the Government, including the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance, is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I know the time is up, but I wish to respond to the Deputy. There will be no shortage of ambition from my side in getting the best possible nitrates derogation for our country, including to retain one for next year and to ensure it serves our purposes well. This is absolutely critical not just for the 7,000 derogation farmers who currently avail of it, but for all of our rural economy: the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: No, absolutely. I thank the Deputy for his sentiments and wish him well in his role as Sinn Féin's spokesperson on agriculture in the term ahead. The point the Deputy raised is a very valid one in that the MFF is the biggest part of this now because it is the next decision to be made. Once that decision is made, we move on to the next bit. In terms of my efforts to get the best CAP...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: We will have many discussions about the nuts and bolts of what we can do flexibility-wise locally but that is a long way off.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Deputy for his points. First, he sought reassurance that the Government will have farmers' backs in the overall funding package for the CAP. Any past performance is a fair indication of future action. Previous Governments that I have been a part of have had the backs of farmers. We are currently in a CAP that is historically the best funded from an Exchequer level as well. If...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I totally do. It is why it has got conflated. I am going to separate those two questions out because answering them together will only conflate it further in people's mind that we pay them extra. On nature restoration, we have said that if farmers want to manage land with a lower-intensity management approach in the future - voluntarily - we will find a way to reward them financially for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Deputy is paraphrasing now-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Deputy will not have constituents back here next year who have fallen foul.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: What was the question the Deputy had on funding?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I am sorry. I just missed the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Regarding the points made about the CAP and how we support farmers, simplification is very important. I, too, was a child who was threatened, around October time, with Santa not coming, but he always came in December. We are delivering €2 billion of supports to farmers every year and that is not simple. This money comes with conditionality. It is money that needs to be audited. We...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I will. I am in the committee's hands. Many topics were raised, including GAEC 2, and I agree about the emotion of it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Okay. I am in the Cathaoirleach's hands.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Who bought it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Deputy has the wrong Minister here for the national parks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Deputy for raising points on a wide range of topics. I agree with his sentiment of wanting to work together. I want to work with the members of the committee. We will have many ups and downs and many issues that will be challenging for the sector, but we will meet them head-on and try to deal with them as best we can. The Deputy compared ACRES to fixing broken machinery and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I wish Deputy Cooney well in his term ahead representing the people of Clare. I completely agree with his point on simplification and the red tape and bureaucracy that drive farmers mad in certain circumstances where they are chasing money. My number one approach to CAP, the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, and everything else is to make sure we get the maximum amount of money to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The clear focus has been on getting people their basic payments first and foremost and resolving the problems with that. On the non-productive payments, the same officials are working through it. We are making progress on that side and we hope to have it resolved and getting payments through as soon as possible, over the summer or in September at the latest.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: No, there are two sides of ACRES: the general scheme and the co-operation areas. The most important thing has been getting the basic payment. That average payment has worked out at more than the amount paid to farmers on GLAS. Almost €500 million has been paid to farmers since the beginning of 2023. The non-productive payments will be resolved over the summer and work is continuing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Deputy can reassure his constituents in County Clare and beyond that we are doing everything in our power to maintain a ring-fenced budget with the dedicated Pillars 1 and 2 that have served us well. I cannot give any guarantee of what the outcome will look like, but I can tell the Deputy what the Government's priority is. I brought a memo to the Cabinet outlining my priorities on CAP,...