Results 32,521-32,540 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Other Questions: Sheep Grassland Scheme (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: It is not.
- Other Questions: Sheep Grassland Scheme (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: It is going from €18 million to €17 million, when we include the €3 million being transferred for the sheep discussion groups
- Other Questions: Sheep Grassland Scheme (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: The scheme has been a success on a number of levels. We had seen sheep numbers reduce year on year and were getting to a stage where the perception was developing that a farmer could not make money from sheep farming. We had to put a scheme in place to help farmers to make more money from responsible sheep production and that was the origin of the sheep grassland scheme which was a three...
- Other Questions: Sheep Grassland Scheme (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: Is the Deputy trying to get in early?
- Other Questions: Sheep Grassland Scheme (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: None of that comes under the scheme we are discussing.
- Other Questions: Sheep Grassland Scheme (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: If the Acting Chairman allows, I will be happy to answer the question. There are only the four of us in the Chamber. The media have probably long since gone to bed.
- Other Questions: Sheep Grassland Scheme (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: This is a serious issue. I hope I have answered the questions on sheep farming. I answered questions on the beef sector for Deputy Martin Ferris, but I will respond to Deputy Mick Wallace. I am not targeting the small guys. The new scheme we are putting in place - a €10 million scheme - will ensure farmers with 20 or fewer suckler cows will receive payments on all of them. We made...
- Other Questions: Coillte Teoranta Lands (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: The Government decision was straightforward. We are not selling the company or the land. The principal decision was to investigate and, if it makes sense to do so, proceed with the sale of harvesting rights for Coillte forests. This would involve selling crops early, just like farmers might sell 30% of their barley crops before they are mature. This is one option for realising the value...
- Other Questions: Coillte Teoranta Lands (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: As I noted earlier, if we proceed with the sales process, we intend to protect the State assets, in other words, the common good element of State-owned forests in terms of the land on which they sit. That includes public access. Most of the forests to which there is public access are not commercial crops. At least 25% of Coillte's estate comprises mature broadleaf forest primarily used for...
- Other Questions: Age Profile in the Farming Industry (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: Many people find it extraordinary that more farmers are over the age of 80 than under the age of 35. That is no basis for the kind of ambition we share for growth and innovation in the sector. This is not to imply there are no good farmers who are older than 80. Many of them are wise people who can teach the new generation.
- Other Questions: Age Profile in the Farming Industry (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: Large numbers of young people are enrolled in agricultural colleges. Over the past six years, the number has increased from 600 to 1,450 per year. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of young men and women who want to get into farming and we need to offer them a future. That is why an Irish proposal was taken on by the Commission as part of the Common Agricultural Policy...
- Other Questions: Sugar Industry (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: I can understand my colleague's frustration, as somebody who comes from a town where the sugar industry provided huge employment and significant opportunities for arable farmers in particular, that the industry is now no longer in existence because of policy decisions and mistakes that were made a number of years ago. That being said, I think it is possible for us to revive the sugar...
- Other Questions: Sugar Industry (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: Two studies have been carried out.
- Other Questions: Sugar Industry (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: Yes.
- Other Questions: Sugar Industry (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: The feasibility studies were very professionally done. Both of them were presented to me and both of them involved detailed meetings around the presentation of those feasibility studies. We then asked officials in the economics section of my Department to assess the feasibility of the business plans. It is important to say, though, that in order for those business plans to be viable, the...
- Other Questions: Coillte Teoranta Lands (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: The Deputy's question concerns the current position with regard to Coillte. Deputies will know that the Government made a decision in principle to move ahead with preparing for and investigating the possibility of a sale of Coillte forests. Essentially this involves selling the harvesting rights to commercial Coillte forests and the investigative and preparatory process is under way. Work...
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Land Reclassification (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: I am not sure everybody will get what they want but we are moving towards resolving the matter.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Land Reclassification (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: That is what is happening. I turned around a situation about which the Deputy was very unhappy.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Land Reclassification (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: We have created time and space to try to find a solution.
- Other Questions: Single Payment Scheme Payments (13 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: This question is in the name of Deputy Kitt, although I suspect it comes from Deputy Ó Cuív. It relates to whether we should be setting ceilings on future single farm payments. Before considering whether we should be setting caps on single farm payments, we first need to know that we have the capacity to do so. I have been supportive of the Commissioner's proposals to cap single...