Results 3,201-3,220 of 23,944 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tillage Sector (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy is an expert at the spin and the criticism herself. She is not offering many solutions or anything constructive. As I said, I have been working with the Deputy's three Government colleagues in Wexford on an ongoing basis over recent weeks on this issue. It is good to engage with the Deputy this morning on it.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tillage Sector (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy majors in giving out and trying to show, through giving out, that maybe she might be doing something for someone.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tillage Sector (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: That is her modus operandi, and she has her approach well off by heart. There is also-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tillage Sector (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy might not like giving other people a chance. I know she likes to give out plenty and to hold the platform. In relation to tillage-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tillage Sector (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: If the Deputy wants to speak to herself, she can go off and shout on local radio. I am working to try to support the sector through a difficult year and to make sure it grows in the future and will continue to do so.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Deputy is aware, the targeted agriculture modernisation scheme, TAMS, 3 provides grants to farmers to build or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. There is an indicative budget of €370 million available for the period 2022 to 2027, whereby all investments are linked to climate, environment or animal welfare. Following the success of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It will be concluded in time for the next opening and I will make a decision in advance of that. That is what I have requested. There is massive work going on in the Department. The comment the Deputy made at the end of her response was a rather flippant one. There are a record number of applications in at the moment for TAMS 3, which shows the appetite for on-farm investment. We are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Deputy is aware, on 6 October I announced important flexibility to the lime-spreading deadline under the national liming programme. While the deadline of 31 October remains in place for receipt of claims, and for payment for lime, applicants now have until 31 March 2024 to spread their approved quantity of lime. Approximately 38,500 farmers have been approved for the programme. The...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I am closely monitoring the situation. I want as many farmers as possible to avail of this. Not enough farmers are spreading lime. It used to be done far more and it needs to be done far more in future. It will help to ensure farmers have more profitability for the work they carry out. That is why, this year, I put in place for the first time a lime scheme. It was great to see the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I am considering that and monitoring it closely. I want as much follow through as possible in respect of farmers purchasing lime and spreading it. I am closely monitoring it daily and getting feedback from farmers. I have to balance the need to ensure farmers get paid and the need to utilise the budget this year for it. Many farmers spread lime earlier this year too. It has been much...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tillage Sector (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I have been in regular contact with farming organisations and farm groups on issues relating to the tillage sector. Yesterday, I met with one of the stakeholders, namely, the Irish Grain Growers, and last week I met the IFA tillage committee to discuss the challenging situation in the sector at the moment in the light of the poor harvest. Earlier this year, I specifically requested and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: In relation to the tillage sector, which has had a very difficult year, I have delivered three tranches of funding: €7 million from the EU; €7 million in additional funding this year through the straw incorporation scheme; and €7 million in the budget for next year. If there were ways of drawing down BAR funding for the sector I would do so but we are talking here about...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I secured funding of €1.5 billion for ACRES. This is the largest amount ever committed to an agri-environment scheme. The Government committed this funding to support what is the central and flagship agri-environment climate measure in Ireland’s Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027. ACRES will not only play a huge role in driving environmental improvements, it...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Over the five-year period, the funding we have profiled for ACRES is sufficient to meet the needs of 50,000 applicants. Over the course of the next year we will get to that 50,000 figure and obviously we will then have to assess how many more farmers are in the scheme and monitor that as it goes forward. In terms of next year's budget, we will be bringing it up to the 50,000 and we have...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: We have got to grips with our forestry sector. Massive work has gone into it over the past couple of years. As the Deputy knows, the outcome of a court case in 2019 radically changed the way each licence had to be assessed. This led to a big backlog in licence applications but we have now worked our way through that. Anybody applying for a forestry licence today will receive it within six...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy for her question. With the indulgence of the House, I note at the outset that we do not have any questions at the top of the ranking on the list in respect of payments. That is a reflection of the hard work that the payments section has done in recent times to work through the new Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and to pay out significant payments. Some 90% of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy. We have received proposals from different representative organisations and have been very keen to encourage people to bring proposals to us in recent years. Each proposal we have received has been assessed, and we have worked to make such proposals eligible for the BAR scheme in any way we can. It has been my objective to do everything possible to draw down BAR funding...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Usage (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Let me be very clear in stating that securing the continued opportunity to avail of a nitrates directive for Irish farmers is Government policy. It was in the last Programme for Government and remains a policy position. I will work with farmers to improve water quality which is key to securing that derogation in the next round of negotiations and into the future. Ireland's current...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Climate Change Policy (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: On the marine side, I am happy to see that the transition of Ireland’s seafood sector to carbon neutrality has already commenced. Important developments supporting this transition are emerging at European level as part of the review of the Common Fisheries Policy and the associated package of measures to improve the sustainability and resilience of the EU fisheries and aquaculture...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Bodies (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: In November 2021, my Department commissioned a study of the wool sector. Published in July 2022, the report was titled Review off Market Opportunities for Irish-Grown Wool Based Products, or the Wool Feasibility Study for short. One of the key recommendations of the Wool Feasibility Study was the establishment of an independent, all-island wool council that would be industry-led and comprise...