Results 3,281-3,300 of 7,978 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes, but about 4,000 ha worth was given out in licences. I am worried. I have looked at the figures for this year to date. While I acknowledge that the number of licences for felling has improved, on the planting side of it I have looked up the figures for January and February so far and it is backwards we are certain to go again. That is what I worry about.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: The Minister talked about the sheep welfare scheme. The Department has made changes to it, and I welcome the new dates. What was the outlay for the sheep welfare scheme? In my understanding, in 2016 or 2017 either €20 million or €25 million was laid out for it. Is that correct?
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: What is it now?
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: It has gone down in total since that time.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: Bringing the debate back to the issue of forestry, unless the dashboard I am reading is wrong, 4,255 ha worth of licences was given out in 2019. In 2020 the figure was 4,342 ha, in 2021 it was 4,255 ha and it is 505 ha so far this year. The Minister said the figure was 8,000 ha.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: So far this year, 505 have been given out but last year the Minister said the number of hectares was 8,000.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: Unless we are getting a wrong dashboard, 4,255 ha was the total for the year and the year before that the figure was 4,342 ha. That is what the dashboard tells us on hectares, and then it shows figures for kilometres and licences issued. What I am reading is that afforested hectares for 2021 come to 4,225, rather than the 8,000 ha the Minister is saying.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: It is about half what the Department has down for 2021.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: The money is the money that is laid out. We will not change it here. No matter what we do, it will be the same. There is no point in holding the Minister all night. We got a few phone calls in recent days from people about slurry. Next year, from what I can see, most farmers will need to be using the low emission slurry spreading system, LESS, going by the nitrate regulations and all...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: No, I am talking about different things. The last one was EU direct payments, which is also the final area covered in the Minister's presentation. There is €28 million of a deficit. Am I right in that? The other area I talked about was slurry. They are straightforward issues.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay. Will the Minister look into the slurry issue? I can see a problem. I am a contractor. The bit I do will not change Ireland but I am talking about the number of farmers ringing at the moment who are not familiar with what they have to do this year and next. On Sunday evening, two of them rang me wondering what they have to spread with this year. Next year, they have to look at...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: From my recollection and from what the FCI put to us last week, other countries were able to get around it under the rural development plan. I ask the Minister to look at the issue.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: It was remiss of me earlier not to point out that the former Deputy, Noel Treacy, who passed away earlier today, represented part of my constituency. He was a member of the Chairman's party at one time. I send my condolences to his family and I also extend my condolences to the Kitt family on the death of Mrs. Kitt.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: Would it be because of Brexit or anything?
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022) Michael Fitzmaurice: I was looking at administration costs. Is the increase due to new schemes coming in?
- National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: The Minister of State might be able to answer this. Why are people who put in their postcode and were told they would have broadband in 2021 or 2022 now getting information back that it could be 2025 or 2026?
- National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I gave them to the Department.
- National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I will give the Minister of State a little insight because I know the game fairly well. I know many of the contractors - not the main contractors or the subcontractor - but a lot of the ordinary hedge-cutting contractors that do the different types of work related to broadband provision. I can tell the Minister of State what is going on out there because seemingly people do not realise it....
- National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)
Michael Fitzmaurice: I was watching the Minister of State on the screen earlier on when he talked about doing more connections. Am I not correct in saying that, under this contract, if Eir goes into the intervention area for somebody so they get high-speed broadband, then NBI or David McCourt is paid for it? Is that not correct?