Results 3,301-3,320 of 23,950 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

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

Charlie McConalogue: Under EU food hygiene regulations, Food Business Operators have the primary responsibility for producing safe food. Officers from my Department conduct a comprehensive range of systematic and risk-based inspections and audits to verify that food businesses approved by my Department are operating in compliance with EU and national food hygiene regulations and that the food that they...

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

Charlie McConalogue: I am pleased to advise that following on from recent State Aid approval from the European Commission, the Government adopted the Forestry Programme 2023-2027 on 6 September and the new Afforestation Scheme launched on the same day. This is a significant milestone for forestry that will allow for the expansion, protection and development of Ireland’s forests and forestry sector. An...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Flood Risk Management (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It has to be acknowledged that soil drainage poses particular challenges in Ireland. There is a great variety of soils and soil problems which means that every drainage challenge on soils is unique. My Department understands that drainage and drain maintenance may be required on farms. However my Department advises that farmers considering drainage or drain maintenance should firstly conduct...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Flood Risk Management (26 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: My Department recognises the impact that climate change is causing to the everyday activities of farmers in Ireland. Adaptation to climate change is a priority for my Department and key actions are set out in the Agriculture, Forest and Seafood Sectoral Adaptation Plan published in September 2019. This Adaptation Plan is about preparing our systems to deal with the inevitable changes in...

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

Charlie McConalogue: Food Vision 2030 sets out a clear ambition to grow the value of Irish exports over the next ten years. This ambition will be realised by implementing actions that are focused on market diversification as well as investment in innovation at producer and processor level, which will drive the competitiveness of Ireland's agri-food offering on Irish and international markets. In 2022 exports...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank members for opportunity to present the sustainability impact assessment of fishing opportunities for 2024 to this committee. I am joined by Mr. Dominic Rihan from Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, Ms Sinéad McSherry, assistant secretary, Ms Anna O'Sullivan, principal officer, and Mr. Ciaran Kelly from the Marine Institute. The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union has led to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: My key objective, and what I work for all the time, is to support the fishing sector and fishers in every way I can, particularly when it comes to negotiations to try to get the best possible outcome for fishing allocations year to year. Obviously, as the Deputy outlined, Brexit has had a very significant impact on our fleet and other fleets across Europe but Ireland suffered more of an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes. On trying to get a strong outcome when it comes to the total fish that we can catch, there are an important couple of months coming up. I take the point made by the Deputy about the challenges around fuel. We are seeing that across the wider society and it particularly has an impact on the fishing sector. The fishing sector differs from most other sectors of the economy in that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Every day, in working on behalf of the sector, it is my objective to support it in every way possible. That is what I have been doing and is what I will be doing over the next two months with regard to fishing allocations and maximising fish quotas for next year. The Deputy mentioned the Act, which I mentioned before, and how the Minister provides general policy guidance to the SFPA but...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I take the Deputy’s point on the 100 m trawlers off the west coast. I do not like the sight of either but it is within the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. The Common Fisheries Policy is not based on the size on the boat but on restricting the amount of fish any country can catch. We talked about the SFPA earlier and other countries also have their oversight and enforcement...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I will look at it across. Last year and the year before I did do the inshore schemes where smaller boats got €2,500 and large boats got €5,500. I was very conscious of the fuel impact in putting that in place too. On the budget for next year, over the past two years, we know Brexit has had a real impact. It was a very unfortunate thing which we all worked hard to avoid....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank Senator O'Donovan. I will go back over the key points raised. In regard to the decommissioning scheme, he questioned why it is so complex. It has to operate within the wider Common Fisheries Policy and adhere to the rules in terms of how decommissioning schemes can happen in any one country. It has to be compliant with that in order to meet state aid rules in regard to making...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank Dr. Kelly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank Deputy Mythen for his contributions and perspective. I agree with him about coastal states. It is very difficult to force people to act responsibly when we do not have control over them. Within the European Union all member states take a responsible approach. We have seen the maximum sustainable yield of a number of fish increase significantly in recent years, and that process...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: There are restrictions within the Common Fisheries Policy on the amount of fish that can be caught by any one boat. They are based on a boat’s quota, not its size. There are also rules and regulations about the types of net and the fishing equivalents that can be used to do that fishing. Those rules and regulations can be altered to take steps that respect the sustainability and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: The quota for all boats is known. That is well monitored and regulated in terms of the quota that each boat has. Across the EU, it is monitored whenever boats are in Irish waters. For all boats, but particularly larger ones, it is essential that we have proper controls in place to ensure that they are operating within the quotas allocated to them and within the rules and regulations that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pre-Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I am not sure what the figures are, but those boats are subject to monitoring. Ireland has taken an approach whereby quotas are not privately owned and are instead a national public resource owned by the State. Other countries have not taken this approach, though, and over the years, we have seen quotas there becoming privatised into a small number of hands. This has resulted in very large...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Consultations (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: My Department has not facilitated in-person or remote briefings with the organisations Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) and BelongTo from 2021 to date. As regards the twelve State Bodies under the aegis of my Department, the information requested is an operational matter for the State Bodies themselves. I have referred the Deputy’s question to the Agencies and have...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Special Protection Areas (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: The designation of lands as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) is a function exercised by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage. My Department has not approved any afforestation within any of the six SPAs designated for breeding Hen Harrier since 2013. During the Forestry Programme (2014-2022), consent for afforestation in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (25 Oct 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: The person named submitted an application under a reference number for the 2023 Basic Income Support Sustainability Scheme (BISS). He has now submitted further documentation to allow this Reference Number be linked with a herd number. The application is now being processed and will be subject to the standard administrative checks. Once these checks are complete any payment due will issue....