Results 31,441-31,460 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Rural Environment Protection Scheme Payments (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: Under the EU Regulations governing the scheme and other area-based payment schemes, a comprehensive administrative check of all applications, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, must be completed before any payment can issue. Successive EU audits have made it absolutely clear that compliance with the Regulations must be strictly adhered to and that all...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Disadvantaged Areas Scheme Application Numbers (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: Payments under the 2012 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme commenced, on target, on 26 September and, to date, payments worth in excess of €206 million have issued to some 94,000 farmers. Payments continue to issue twice weekly, as individual cases are confirmed eligible. Nationally, 127 applications were subject to 100% penalty, as each was received after the final date for receipt of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Commonage Division (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: Commonage lands form an important part of the farming enterprises of many farmers, particularly along the West Coast. They also form an important part of the local environment from the point of view of bio-diversity, wildlife, amenities and economic returns e.g. tourism. However, there is a substantial risk of land abandonment as under-grazing become more of a problem. Under-grazing leads...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Coillte Teoranta Harvesting Rights Sale (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: As a member of the Government, I have been involved in the Government meetings at which the State Asset Disposal programme, which includes the proposed sale of Coillte harvesting rights, have been considered. The outcome of one such meeting was the Government decision in February 2012 that consideration would be given to the sale of some assets of Coillte (excluding the sale of land). The...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Coillte Teoranta Harvesting Rights Sale (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy is aware, further to the Government’s decision that a concession for the harvesting rights to Coillte’s forests be considered for sale, the National Treasury Management Agency, via its NewERA Unit, engaged with Coillte, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and my Department to examine the financial and other implications of a potential transaction....

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Eligibility (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: Despite the challenging budgetary constraints facing my Department, last year I allocated €20 million annually to fund a new agri-environment scheme and on foot of this I announced the re-opening of the Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS). I decided on a maximum payment of €4,000 per annum for individual applicants to allow for up to 6,500 new participants to be accepted...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Job Statistics (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: Employment statistics for the meat processing sector are published by the CSO in its Census of Industrial Production (CIP). The CIP is an annual survey and the most recent available data, which relates to 2010, indicates that there are around 12,000 persons employed in 123 enterprises engaged in the processing and preserving of meat and the production of meat products. A sectoral breakdown of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Job Retention (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: Consumer confidence and trust is critical to preserving and securing employment throughout the Irish beef supply chain, including the processing stage. My chief concern since the beginning of this controversy has been to fully restore consumer confidence in Irish beef products and thereby limit the potential impact of food fraud on employment levels in the processing industry. The fact...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Single Payment Scheme Payments (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: I assume that the Deputy is referring to the proposal for a redistributive payment on the first hectares that emerged during recent negotiations between the EU Commission and the EU Council of Ministers on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. This proposal allows Member States, as an add-on and not an alternative, to flat rate or partial convergence, to use up to 30% of the national...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sugar Quotas Abolition (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: I strongly support the abolition of sugar quotas at an early stage. The EU Commission’s proposal was to abandon quotas from September 2015. In discussions at the Council of Agriculture Ministers, it emerged that Member States were deeply divided on the issue between a group of Member States, including Ireland, who favoured early abolition and another group who wished to extend quotas...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Slaughtering Numbers (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: Details regarding number of sheep from Northern Ireland slaughtered in plants approved by my Department since March 2011 are given in the Table below. These figures are based on weekly returns made by sheep slaughtering plants. Plants are not asked to provide returns in respect of the number of sheep slaughtered that originated in Britain or elsewhere as the numbers involved are negligible. I...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: Considerable progress has been made over the last number of weeks in the negotiations on the reform of the CAP. As a first step, the European Parliament’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee adopted an initial position on the CAP reform package at the end of January. Further momentum was generated in early February when the clarity that had been awaited from the negotiations on...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Agricultural Policy Reform (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: I intend neither to continue with the current direct payments regime nor to move to the type of national or regional flat-rate system proposed by the Commission, but rather to implement a limited redistribution of payments that will result in a fairer, more balanced system. I think we in Ireland can all agree that we should move away from payments based entirely on out-of-date historic...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Fisheries Policy Negotiations (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: At the Council of Fisheries meeting on 26th of February, following a long and challenging set of negotiations, I successfully brokered the political agreement of the EU Fisheries Council for the introduction of a Europe wide discards ban. The Council general approach allows for some practical measures that will support the effective implementation of the discards ban. In relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Fisheries Policy Reform (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: The Commission published its proposals for a new financial instrument for the period 2014 – 2020, the European Maritime & Fisheries Fund, in December 2011. The fund will help to deliver the ambitious objectives of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy and will assist fishermen in the transition towards sustainable fishing, as well as coastal communities in the diversification...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sheep Technology Adoption Programme Eligibility (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: The sheep sector is a key part of the Agrifood sector, especially in marginal land areas and there is huge scope to improve farm incomes through focusing on issues such as grassland management, financial management, breeding, health and welfare and environmental efficiency. The Sheep Technology Adoption Programme (STAP) is intended to provide participants with the knowledge and the skills...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Single Payment Scheme Eligibility (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: Under the original Commission proposals, existing payment entitlements in Member States such as Ireland who applied the Single Payment historic model will expire on 31 December of the year before the first implementation of the new CAP regime. It is now recognised that the first year of the new regime will be 2015. Farmers will apply in that year for an allocation of new payment...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Safety Authority Reports (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is responsible for the enforcement of food labelling legislation in this country. My Department is not aware of a report with the title referred to in the Question by the Deputy but I am advised that the FSAI did carry out a Fish Labelling Survey in 2011.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Rural Environment Protection Scheme Appeals (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: The agricultural advisor of the person named has recently submitted an appeal to the Department in relation to the penalty applied in this case. The appeal is being examined with a view to issuing a response to the person named as quickly as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Applications (26 Mar 2013)

Simon Coveney: The person named was approved for participation in the 2011 Agri-Environment Options Scheme with effect from 1st September 2011 and has received full payment totalling €1,217.05 in respect of 2011. Under the EU Regulations governing the Scheme, a comprehensive administrative check of all applications, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, must be...