Results 37,081-37,100 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (11 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: The Farmers Charter Action Plan 2009 - 2011 was agreed following discussions with the farming organisations. The Charter sets out specific delivery targets to our farmer customers and covers the following services: Single Payment Scheme; Disadvantaged Areas Compensatory Allowance Scheme; Suckler Welfare Scheme; Rural Environment Protection Scheme; Early Retirement/Young Farmers Installation...
- Written Answers — Farm Inspections: Farm Inspections (11 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: My Department, in the context of delivering the Direct Payment Schemes, is required to carry out on-the-spot inspections on a number of farms to ensure compliance with EU legislation in the areas of the environment, food safety, animal health and welfare and plant health and ensuring that the farm is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition. This is known as...
- Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (11 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: Since 2005 my Department has been engaged in a major change management programme, including re-organisation at all levels, facilitated by changes in the way schemes are managed, reductions in disease levels, and the advanced use of information technology. As a result the Department has been able to reduce its staffing level from 4,800 to 3,600, a reduction of 25%. The cost of running the...
- Written Answers — Veterinary Inspection Service: Veterinary Inspection Service (11 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: Slaughterhouses and meat processing plants operate under the approval of my Department in accordance with the terms of EU Food Hygiene Regulations. These plants are supervised by veterinary inspectors employed by the Department, assisted in their duties by technical staff (agricultural officers) and by temporary veterinary inspectors (TVIs) drawn from private practice on a rota basis. The...
- Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (11 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: Under the EU Regulations governing the Scheme and other area-based payment schemes, a comprehensive administrative check, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, must be completed before any payment can issue. Once all checks are successfully completed for an application, my Department then pays each case as soon as possible. This process is now well advanced....
- Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (11 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: The EU Nitrates Directive requires every Member State to implement a Nitrates Action Programme. Under the Directive each Action Programme must specify periods when the land application of chemical and organic fertilisers is prohibited. These closed periods are set out in Schedule 4 of the Good Agricultural Practice Regulations (SI No. 610 of 2011) which were introduced by the Minister for...
- Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (11 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: The person named commenced REPS 3 in April 2006 and has received full payments for the first four years of their contract. Payment in respect of the fifth year for the amount of â¬3040.88 will issue to the person named in the next ten days.
- Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (11 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: An application under the 2011 Single Payment Scheme/Disadvantaged Areas Scheme was received from the person named on 16 May 2011, processing of which has recently been completed and thereby allowing payment to issue under the 2011 Disadvantaged Area Scheme on 7 October. The 50% advance payments under the Single Payment Scheme are scheduled to commence issuing as and from 17 October 2011.
- Veterinary Fees (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: I will look into it.
- Coillte Assets (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: Although Deputy O'Dea is not present, I will read the reply into the record. Coillte was one of 28 commercial state bodies reviewed by the review group on State assets and liabilities, chaired by Mr. Colm McCarthy, which reported in April 2011. There were three recommendations in the section dealing with Coillte, one of which was that the State should initiate the disposal of Coillte's...
- Coillte Assets (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: I wish to be absolutely clear on a number of issues. No one is considering selling Coillte land and that is off the table. When I asked Deloitte to consider the matter, I stipulated that there should be no consideration of the sale of Coillte lands. I appeal to people to be responsible on the issue if and when we must discuss the matter at some stage in future. It is true to say that the...
- Milk Quota (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: This question relates to the milk quota and I will give a short answer so people have the opportunity to ask questions. Currently, Ireland is at risk of being fined at the end of the milk quota year next March for being over the quota, meaning superlevy fines of 28 cent per litre will be applied to people producing over their quota. I do not want to see that so I encourage farmers to try to...
- Milk Quota (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: I can understand that people are trying to find imaginative solutions to this problem. We have examined whether it is possible to transfer surplus quota from Northern Ireland to the South. Unfortunately, although I would rather it was otherwise, Northern Ireland is considered a different country and jurisdiction from the Republic of Ireland and, whether we like it or not, it is not possible...
- Food Harvest 2020 (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: The main targets set under Food Harvest 2020 were to: increase the value of primary output in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors by â¬1.5 billion, a 33% increase on the 2007-09 average; increase the value added in the agri-food, fisheries and wood products sectors by 40% compared to 2008; achieve an export target of â¬12 billion for the sector, representing a 42% increase...
- Departmental Schemes (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: This is about the farm schemes again; it is a pre-budget submission from Deputy Moynihan. The answer is the same as the one I gave earlier. There will be reductions in expenditure, and I have been frank about that since the week I took office. Currently, we are lucky to be in charge of an industry that is expanding. Agriculture and agri-food have been the big good news story for the past...
- Departmental Schemes (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: I agree with the Deputy. There are vulnerable persons in rural Ireland on farms, the sizes of which do not allow them to expand and grow and increase their income from farming activity. We all have a responsibility to keep them on the land. I am not a Minister who will impose policies purely on the basis of economics and solely focus on the efficiency of food production in making...
- Farm Safety (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: I am delighted the Deputy has asked this question because farm safety is an issue which is not spoken about enough. When one looks at the figures for the numbers of fatalities on farms, one begins to realise why this issue should be a priority. I took a number of specific initiatives in this area over the summer. In June I made the opening address at the national farm safety conference...
- Farm Safety (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: This is primarily a machinery and livestock issue with reference to the handling of powerful animals, some of which are unpredictable, particularly bulls. The number of bull beef animals has increased as a proportion of the stock. In the past there would have been a lot of bullocks whereas now there are a lot of young bulls being produced for beef, which carries with it some risk. On the...
- Fishing Industry Development (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: This question concerns fishing industry development but it gives me an opportunity to express some of my concerns about the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP. Next year will be about planning for fishing in the immediate term. The major hurdle facing us in the coming weeks is the proposal for total allowable catches, TACs, for next year. The initial proposal from the Commission is not good news...
- Fishing Industry Development (6 Oct 2011)
Simon Coveney: This year the Commission has decided to take what it calls a precautionary approach. If we cannot provide detailed scientific data to prove that we can maintain fishing efforts on a particular stock, the Commissioner intends to apply an automatic reduction of 25% to the total allowable catch for that stock. I cannot accept that. Either we are applying science or we are not. Our decisions...