Results 30,781-30,800 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: There is no surprise for farmers. We knew for about eight months that the new CAP would not be up and running until 1 January 2015. The Commission has accepted this. I do not want to be accused of not answering the question. In the past two weeks the Commission has brought forward a proposal on how things will work in 2014, essentially under the old CAP policy but on the basis of a new...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: Which option?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: I need to understand them. Which greening option is the Deputy talking about?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: Does the Deputy expect me to answer all of those questions in one minute? If so, I will try.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: With regard to what the position will be in 2014, we must look at what we can afford to do with the available budget. I will make those decisions around budget time. There will be a new rural development scheme post-2015 that will involve environmental schemes and others. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív always sees this in simple terms of just giving out money and being as popular as he...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: No, that is how the Deputy sees it. We must act strategically with public money and get value for money in how we spend it, whether it be on environmental or other schemes. With regard to minimum payment, there is an agreed Council position. All 27 countries signed up to providing an option for countries that would not include a compulsory minimum payment. The Commission wants a minimum...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: The Bacon report is just one of a series of reports. My Department had an evaluation carried out on a pro bono basis by Deloitte quite some time ago, while NewERA has commissioned a number of reports on the valuation of harvesting rights, as has Coillte. Different people have different views. It is my job to bring a set of recommendations to the Government based on all the work that has...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: Within the next two to three weeks.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sugar Industry (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: At the outset, I provide the Deputy with the background to this issue. The EU sugar regime underwent a radical reform in 2005 following major EU decisions to restructure the industry. A temporary restructuring scheme was introduced with the aim of reducing EU sugar production. Greencore, the holder of the entire Irish sugar quota, availed of this voluntary scheme, dismantled its facilities...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sugar Industry (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: I am aware of the ongoing work by Beet Ireland and the negotiations that have been taking place with the owners of the Lisheen Mine site. It is a very exciting project which I would love to see happen. My role as a Minister is to facilitate an end to sugar quotas as soon as possible or, if there is an extension of quotas beyond 2017, to ensure Ireland is allocated a quota to permit the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Animal Feedstuffs (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy asked for information on the figures for fallen animals. The most up-to-date figures available to me show that at the beginning of May, the total for 2013 is 143,000 fallen animals, compared to 117,000 last year. In the first three months of 2009, there were just under 100,000 fallen animals compared with 106,000 this year. It is important to put those figures in context. I...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Animal Feedstuffs (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: Are we being allowed the same time for replies as is usual? We seem to be very rushed.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Animal Feedstuffs (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: I will come back to answer the rest of the Deputy's questions.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Animal Feedstuffs (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: Sometimes it would seem that the Deputy opposite has never been in government. When the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, announced the extension of the scheme to which he refers, she found that money from within her own budget.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Animal Feedstuffs (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: I have to find any extra money I spend from within my budget. There is no point in taking money from farmers in one scheme to give it under another scheme.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Animal Feedstuffs (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: We have prioritised it.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Animal Feedstuffs (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: It is nothing to do with getting approval from Government; I can manage my own budget. We are spending €1 million or so on the transport subsidy. We have said there is no ceiling to what we will spend on animal welfare when farmers need to be assisted in extreme cases. The Department has taken more than 500 calls on the emergency assistance help line. We have directly assisted 100...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Animal Feedstuffs (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: I ask the Deputy to listen. We are trying to incentivise the importation of large volumes of fodder over a short period of time. Therefore, we are sticking to the date of this Friday. This date already includes an extension. However, if a farmer has proof of purchase of fodder dated before this Friday, we will, of course, facilitate the bringing in of that feed next week and the week...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: This question refers to Coillte. I am somewhat limited in what I can say, apart from what I have said many times, which is that the Government made a decision last summer to look in some detail at the viability of the sale of timber harvesting rights currently owned by Coillte. That process has included my Department, NewERA, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the board of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights (8 May 2013)

Simon Coveney: Deputy Rabbitte said that the probability of agreeing to the immediate privatisation of Coillte looks more unlikely every day. While that may be the outcome, I do not want to predetermine the result of Cabinet discussions. I have always said that we will protect the public asset Coillte manages in any sales process. Selling timber futures or harvesting rights is very similar to selling a...