Results 281-300 of 5,025 for speaker:Martin Heydon

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Poultry Sector (7 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: I am very aware of the contribution of the poultry production sector to Irish agri-food sector as a whole, supporting significant levels of direct employment and contributing to the rural economy. Securing market access and diversifying trade remains a key aim for Government. Developing market opportunities at home and abroad is one of the goals of Food Vision 2030. The recently launched...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Control of Horses (7 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 494 to 496, inclusive, together. My Department is responsible for all policy and legislation in relation to the Control of Horses Act 1996. Operation of the Act comes under the remit of Local Authorities. Under the Control of Horses Act 1996, local authorities may take a range of actions in relation to equines including prohibiting horses in certain...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Correspondence (7 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: I am arranging to have this examined and a response will issue in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Usage (7 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: The following data is based on the 6,824 remaining applicants for the 2024 Nitrates Derogation when those who withdrew their applications and those deemed ineligible arising from my Department's checks are excluded. Please note checks have not fully concluded regarding the 2024 Nitrates Derogation so this data is subject to change. Table 1 below provides a breakdown of 2024 derogation...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Control of Dogs (2 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: From 1 June 2025, all policy and legislative responsibility for the Control of Dogs Acts transferred to my Department from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht (DRCDG). Prior to 2025, DRCDG did not provide funding to local authorities to employ dog wardens. In July 2024, funding of €2 million was announced for local authorities to support the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (2 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: The application window for the scheme to support Long Established Young Farmers has closed and there are no plans to extend the eligibility criteria. Since the time my Department was first approached in 2015 with regard to the group commonly referred to as forgotten farmers, the group was defined as young farmers who were under the age of 40 in 2015, had established their holdings prior...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Culls (2 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department, along with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage established the Irish Deer Management Strategy group to develop a strategy for the sustainable management of deer in Ireland. The Group comprised representatives from my Department, National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Coillte. A report was published into “Developing a Sustainable Deer...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Supports (2 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: The collection of sheep wool is a commercial arrangement between the sheep farmer and the merchant. My Department does not have a role in collecting wool, or the usage of wool once collected. The Programme for Government commits to supporting the work of the Irish Grown Wool Council under the remit of the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. In 2023, following a review of the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (2 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme, or ACRES, is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan, with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. There are currently just under 54,000 participants in ACRES. A total of €97,809,072.66 has been paid to ACRES participants to date in the 2025...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Diseases (2 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: Bovine TB is an ongoing challenging for Irish farmers. In recent years we have seen a significant increase in bTB levels nationally. Over 6,000 farm families were affected by a bTB outbreak in 2024 and herd incidence was at 6.04%. As at 28th September 2025, over a 12-month period, herd incidence was 6.08%, with over 40,000 reactors. I published the Bovine TB Action Plan, "Addressing Bovine...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (2 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: Animal welfare is a key priority for me, as Minister, and for the Government. The Animal Welfare Grants Programme provides considerable support for animal welfare charities to assist them in their vital work in rescuing and re-homing animals. In November 2024, funding of almost €6 million was provided to 101 animal welfare charities nationwide including an award of €6,175 to...

Seanad: Agricultural Sector: Motion (1 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Chathaoirligh agus a Sheanadóirí. I am pleased to be in the Upper House to contribute to this important debate. I thank all Members of the Seanad who tabled this Private Members' motion on agriculture and have given us this opportunity to air a really important topic for our whole country, not just our rural economy, though it is the bedrock of that. I...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Slaughtering (1 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: There is EU and Irish legislation in place for the protection of animals at the time of slaughter. The relevant EU legislation is Regulation No. 1099 of 2009 on the Protection of Animals at the Time of Killing and the Irish legislation is S.I. 292 of 2013, as amended. The legislation requires animals to be stunned (rendered unconscious) before they are slaughtered. However, slaughter of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Slaughtering (1 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: The information requested is not readily available and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Slaughtering (1 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: EU labelling regulations do not require meat labels to indicate the method of slaughter. There are no current moves in the EU or in Ireland to change this position.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Slaughtering (1 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department does not collect data on the market destination of meat from animals slaughtered without pre-stunning. There is no EU regulatory requirement to collect such data.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Slaughtering (1 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: There is EU and Irish legislation in place for the protection of animals at the time of slaughter. The relevant EU legislation is Regulation No. 1099 of 2009 on the Protection of Animals at the Time of Killing and the Irish legislation is S.I. 292 of 2013, as amended. The legislation requires animals to be stunned (rendered unconscious) before they are slaughtered. However, slaughter of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Slaughtering (1 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: Currently there is EU and Irish legislation in place for the protection of animals at the time of slaughter. The legislation requires animals to be stunned before they are slaughtered. However, slaughter of animals without prior stunning, as prescribed by religious rites, is also permitted under the EU legislation, under derogation. My Department is responsible for implementation of the above...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (1 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: The person named submitted an application under the ACRES Co-operation stream and was approved into Tranche 1 of the scheme, with a commencement date of 1st January 2023. I have made enquiries and can confirm that payments are up to date for this herd. Balance payment in respect of scheme year 2024 issued on 16 May 2025, in the sum of €959.20. Payments in respect of scheme year...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Feedstuffs (1 Oct 2025)

Martin Heydon: The focus of feed legislation is to ensure that feedingstuffs do not endanger food safety, do not pose a risk to animal health or the environment, meet the minimum standards prescribed, are accurately labelled, and are fully traceable. Feedingstuffs controls are implemented through inspections and sampling at all stages of the feed chain, including importation, storage, manufacture, transport...