Results 30,521-30,540 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: The sixth group relates to the non-application of provisions to certain enactments and regulations. While this sounds somewhat technical, my Department became aware that late last year, the Minister for Health had introduced a new statutory instrument amending the Irish Medicines Board Act 1995 to reflect recent changes in the law at European Union level that are reflected in the replacement...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: This group relates to the prohibition on animal cruelty. The amendments are a number of small changes to section 12 that reflect a number of issues raised by Deputies. In the main, they serve to improve the language of the section and provide that where a suffering animal is seized, the dependent offspring also can be seized. This provision is unlikely to be used, as where animals have...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: That is a reasonable question and I wish to say two things to farmers on this issue. First, if one is unable to feed one's animals at present for whatever reason, regardless of whether one cannot get them out and has no fodder to feed them inside or cannot afford to buy feed or cannot access feed, there is absolutely no reason to allow an animal to starve in Ireland at present. There is a...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: Amendment No. 16 stands alone in the eighth group and is about the prohibition on abandonment of animals. This was suggested during the Committee Stage debate and addresses the need to allow for light and ventilation for animals that are being left unattended. This merely adds to the categorisation of what constitutes abandonment. In other words, it is one thing to abandon an animal on a...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: The ninth group concerns an issue about which I personally feel strongly, as I suspect do other colleagues. It pertains to the prohibition on animal fighting. Amendments Nos. 17 to 20 are to section 15. There has been some concern over section 15 of the Bill, despite the fact that it relates clearly to performances. I have had this section re-examined and am satisfied this provision will...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: For the information of Senators, there are 27 groups. I hope we can move through them quite quickly because there is nothing really contentious left in this. There has been over eight hours of debate on this Bill, much of that in this House. Members of this House have made a significant contribution to the content of this Bill. It is a good example of a Bill that began in the Seanad and...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: Group 2 is a little shorter. This relates to amendments Nos. 3 and 23 to 25, inclusive. It relates to the definition of intensive units. A small drafting amendment moves the definition of "intensive unit" out of the general definitions to the two specific sections where it is used in this Bill. Essentially, this relates to defining poultry units, pig units, etc. where there is intensive...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: Group 3 consists of drafting amendments to definition of "protected animal". These are amendments 4 and 5. Following legal advice, it was deemed more correct to make clear that the Bill is limited to those animals in the State and those animals that are specifically owned. There was an issue in relation to Northern Ireland versus the Republic of Ireland here because, essentially, we were...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: Group 4, which is amendments Nos. 6, 48, 54 and 60, relates to the keeping of records. Discussion in my Department has identified the need for some tweaks to the definition of "record" and its use at various points in the Bill. First, we are providing more details to specify that documents like animal passports or identity documents are included in this definition for obvious reasons given...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Disease Controls (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: Under EU rules my Department is obliged to have scrapie tests carried out each year on 10,000 fallen sheep and 10,000 sheep slaughtered for human consumption, over 18 months of age. In 2012, Ireland's Active Surveillance Programme involved the testing of 10,342 fallen sheep over 18 months of age at knackeries and 10,963 sheep over 18 months of age at slaughter plants.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fodder Crisis (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: I announced on 10 May an extension of the imported fodder transport scheme for a further two weeks and the doubling of the fund to €2 million. Following consultation with Met Eireann, Co Ops, the farming organisations, Teagasc and the advice of officials working on the ground, the decision was taken to allow a further two weeks for fodder to be imported into the country with a...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fodder Crisis (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: The Fodder Transport Subsidy Scheme had played an important role in contributing to the efforts of recent weeks, with the transport costs of sizable quantities of fodder being significantly offset by my Department's contribution. By the end of the week, approximately 2,000 loads of imported fodder will have benefited from my Department's contribution to the transport costs;this amounts to in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fodder Crisis (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: I announced on 10 May an extension of the imported fodder transport scheme for a further two weeks and the doubling of the fund to €2m. Following consultation with Met Eireann, Co Ops, the farming organisations, Teagasc and the advice of officials working on the ground, the decision was taken to allow a further two weeks for fodder to be imported into the country with a doubling of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: The person named was approved for participation in the Agri-Environment Options Scheme with effect from the 1st November 2010 and full payments totalling €833.33 and €5,000.00 issued in respect of 2010 and 2011 respectively. Under the EU Regulations governing the Scheme and other area-based payment schemes, a comprehensive administrative check, including cross-checks with the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: The person named was approved for participation in the 2011 Agri-Environment Options Scheme with effect from the 1st September 2011 and full payment totalling €783.62 issued in respect of 2011. Under the EU Regulations governing the Scheme and other area-based payment schemes, a comprehensive administrative check, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System,...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fodder Crisis (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: I announced on 10 May an extension of the imported fodder transport scheme for a further two weeks and the doubling of the fund to €2m. Following consultation with Met Eireann, Co Ops, the farming organisations, Teagasc and the advice of officials working on the ground, the decision was taken to allow a further two weeks for fodder to be imported into the country with a doubling of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Passports (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 224 and 229 together. The identification and registration of equidae is governed by EU Council Directives 90/426/EEC and 90/427/EEC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 504/2008 of 6 June 2008. The EU legislation has been transposed into national legislation via S.I. No. 357 of 2011 - European Communities (Equine) Regulations 2011 (as amended). Regulation...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Bovine Disease Compensation (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: BVD is a viral disease of cattle that is estimated to cost Irish farmers around €102m each year. The provision of funding for compensation in the context of the compulsory phase of the BVD programme must be placed in the context of the economic benefits accruing to farmers arising from the eradication of this disease as well as the scarce budgetary resources available to my Department....

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Disadvantaged Areas Scheme Applications (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: The person named is one of a number of applicants under the 2012 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme, whose cases were impacted by the requirement that their holdings must have achieved a minimum stocking density in 2011 of 0.3 livestock units per forage hectare and who applied for and were refused derogation in this regard. While the person named was been informed of the option to appeal to the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Agricultural Policy Reform (22 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: I have examined the briefing note prepared by the Irish Farmers Association regarding CAP reform and I agree with many, though not all, of the points made. As President of the European Council of Agriculture Ministers, my current objective is to secure an inter-institutional political agreement with the European Parliament and the Commission by the end of June. Given the range of views at...