Results 3,021-3,040 of 3,998 for speaker:Martin Kenny

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Leader Programmes Expenditure (17 Apr 2018)

Martin Kenny: 1354. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount of Leader funding which has been issued to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15463/18]

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Leader Programmes Expenditure (17 Apr 2018)

Martin Kenny: 1355. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the estimated amount of Leader funding expected to be issued by the end of 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15464/18]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ongoing Fodder Crisis: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Apr 2018)

Martin Kenny: I welcome the Minister and his staff. I also welcome the farm organisations and their representatives. In the first week of October last year, I had a priority question to the Minister on this issue. On that occasion, the Minister's basic mantra was that there was no fodder crisis. His view was that there was plenty of fodder in the country but some of it was in the wrong places and needed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: I welcome the Minister for the second day this week. I will start with the CAP budget. Everyone is in unison with the view that the budget needs to be maintained and even increased if we are to make any difference. The big issue is that so many EU member states have said thus far that they are not prepared to pay in that extra amount. What does that mean? What is going to be the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: And a heavy one at that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: Pillar 1 covered greening and the basic payment. Is it proposed to merge both of those? Does that mean there will be greening actions?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: Is that by member states?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: The Minister mentioned that 95% of the farmers get 75% of the funds in Pillar 1. That means that-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: It is 77%. That means 5% of farmers are getting almost a quarter of the funds-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: -----when that is put in reverse.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: That is the point. Then 100% of farmers are obviously getting 100% of the funds, so the higher we go with the percentage of farmers, the higher we go with the percentage of funds. It is really the fact that such a large block goes to such a small percentage.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: Is it almost a danger that they up their game and meet the European standards? When they do meet the European standards, we will have a diminished argument when we go to try to fight the battle.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: Particularly Argentina?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: The Minister is saying that if a Mercosur deal were concluded, it would be six to seven years before we would see products being imported-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Post-EU Council Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries: Discussion (29 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: This is due to the fact that we already have an element of EU regulation in those countries for the products coming in at present. The Minister said that an election might come up in Brazil. There may be other obstacles in the way. Are we looking at six months or a year before we see a conclusion to this?

Services for People with Disabilities: Motion [Private Members] (27 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: I compliment Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and others who have been so instrumental in bringing this motion to the House. We are discussing the rights of persons with disabilities but I prefer to call them people with different abilities. This is very much what this debate is about. These are people who, unfortunately, have hit different crises in their lives and they find the...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: I refer to the farm payment schemes. The green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, is the one we have been talking about for the past 12 months. Quite a number of farmers are still waiting to get their payments. I am also looking at the sheep welfare scheme which was successful to an extent. Are there any plans to broaden that out and make any increase? The sheep sector has a lot...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: Would that not suggest there is space to at least front-load a higher payment to, say, the first 50 ewes? I know the Minister has to put some additional actions in place to do that but if there is space to do that, could that not be examined?

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: The Minister just said there was not a full take-up of the scheme.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Martin Kenny: The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority's ability to properly monitor large fishing vessels, commonly known as super-trawlers, is a bone of contention with many in the small fishing industry in coastal areas. The authority's personnel are not able to board those vessels. It is a serious issue as the smaller vessels seem to get all the attention while the bigger ships, which can do multiples...