Results 37,141-37,160 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Fish Quotas: Fish Quotas (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: Each member State has a role to enforce the fishing quotas determined by the EU Council. The EU Commission has overall responsibility to evaluate the application of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy by the Member States and to apply deductions of quota where a Member State exceeds its quotas in a particular year. The monitoring and control of fishing activities in Irish waters and...

Written Answers — Fishing Industry: Fishing Industry (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: My information is that approximately 48% of domestic sales are Irish in origin. Imports are understood to be mostly canned fish and frozen fillets for the fast food trade, as well imports of fresh cod and salmon to balance shortages of domestic supply. An Bord Bia promote the consumption of local fresh fish, including hake, haddock, whiting and mackerel and shellfish species such as crab,...

Written Answers — Common Fisheries Policy: Common Fisheries Policy (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: Member States have no oversight role in relation to the observance of fishing quotas by other Member States. The EU Commission has overall responsibility to evaluate the application of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy by the Member States. It is a matter for the EU Commission, as set down in EU Regulation, to apply sanctions in the event of any quota breaches.

Written Answers — Food Safety Standards: Food Safety Standards (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 157 and 158 together. Food production and labelling in the countries of the European Union operates in accordance with harmonised rules and member states controls are subject to audit and supervision by the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) of the EU. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) under the aegis the Minister for Health has overall responsibility...

Written Answers — Agri-Food Sector: Agri-Food Sector (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 159 and 160 together. The Government's strategy for development of the agri-food sector, Food Harvest 2020, is built on the premise of sustainable food production by family farms. This is also the basis of the European Model of Agriculture, supported by the Common Agricultural Policy, which combines the goals of sustainable and competitive food production...

Written Answers — National Herd: National Herd (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 161 and 162 together. Data on the national herd is published twice yearly by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on the basis of two categories; dairy and other cows. The former are kept principally to produce milk for human consumption and the latter is essentially used for beef production. Data to December 2010 is presented in tabular format below. Results...

Written Answers — Sugar Industry: Sugar Industry (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: As part of the reform of the EU sugar regime in 2006, a temporary scheme for the restructuring of the sugar industry, was introduced with the aim of reducing EU sugar production in order to comply with WTO and other international obligations. The scheme provided an incentive for sugar processors to voluntarily renounce sugar quota and dismantle the associated sugar processing plant and it...

Written Answers — Purchase for Destruction Scheme: Purchase for Destruction Scheme (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: The Purchase for Destruction Scheme was introduced on 1 January 2001 in response to the EU BSE crisis and ran for a period of six months. The scheme was highly successful in removing surplus product from the market, removing a total of 278,000 animals or 90,500 tonnes of carcase beef and contributing significantly to a much more stable international market in 2002.

Written Answers — Sheep Stock: Sheep Stock (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: The results of the National Sheep and Goats Censuses for the years 2006 to 2010, which are available on the Department's website, are summarised in the table below (data for 2011 is not yet available). They show that there was a decline in the national sheep flock between 2006 and 2009 but that the decline appears to have bottomed out with a modest increase in 2010. This modest increase also...

Written Answers — Agri-Food Sector: Agri-Food Sector (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 166 and 167 together. Irish exports of beef and lamb in were valued at almost €1.7 billion in 2010, representing an increase of almost 8% on the previous year, and these figures are continuing to grow in 2011. The vast majority of Irish exports of beef and lamb are directed to other EU countries. However, it is always advantageous to have alternative...

Written Answers — Herd Numbers: Herd Numbers (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: As indicated in my reply to his questions on 20th July 2011 and 27th September 2011, the DVO has been aware for some time that there was a dispute over the ownership of the land and it was decided that no change in registration of the herd number should take place pending clarification of this issue. In the meantime, the herd keeper role, which assigns responsibility for the care and...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: I engaged three consultancy firms on a pro bono basis earlier this year as part of the Departments Comprehensive Expenditure Review. Consultants are not generally engaged on value for money exercises as the Department has trained staff capable of performing these exercises as required.

Milk Quota (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: I thank Deputy Moynihan for keeping this issue on the agenda. He has been very consistent in raising the concern that the soft landing strategy of the European Union simply is not working for Ireland, and that we should pursue changes to that policy which will allow our Ireland more flexibility between now and the end of 2015, when milk quotas are abolished, to allow for growth in that...

Milk Quota (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: To be clear on this matter, there is no appetite in France to reopen the milk quota negotiations on the soft landing. We are asking the French minister to consider agreeing to a butterfat correction, which would not be popular among French farmers. The overriding concern for France and Germany is to retain the milk quota regime as it stands until 2015. They believe any flexibility or...

Common Fisheries Policy (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: I thank Deputy Ferris and his party for raising this issue. Deputy Pringle and others are also interested in the reply as it relates to the Common Fisheries Policy. Rather than reading out a long answer, I will try to convey to the Deputies the elements of the reply in which they will be interested. A number of key issues arise for Ireland with regard to the Common Fisheries Policy. I...

Common Fisheries Policy (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: On the specific issue raised by Deputy Ferris, a mechanism is in place which allows trading of quotas between countries. It is a swapping system under which my Department may negotiate and discuss with other countries the option of swapping quota for different species. While the current system facilitates these types of swaps, it does not allow countries which do not use their full...

Direct Payment Schemes (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: Fair play to the Deputy. He wants me to announce my budget a few months early. The reality, of course, is that I cannot give him the assurance he seeks, namely, that there will be no cuts to any of the schemes from which we make payments - REPS, AOS, disadvantaged area payments, the less favoured area scheme, LFAs, and so on. When I met the IFA yesterday I told delegates it is important to...

Direct Payment Schemes (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: I shall put on the record the facts about the disadvantaged area payments because that is a fair question. Some farmers have been paid and some have not. I shall give the numbers. To date, €164 million has been paid to 75,000 farmers from the disadvantaged area payments scheme, DAS. This is €42 million ahead of the position in 2010 and we have worked hard to try to get payments paid...

Common Agricultural Policy (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: I have the relevant reference. There has been much concern, particularly among farmers involved in leasing. Last year approximately 17% of the farmed land in Ireland was leased, on either short-term or long-term leases. That is a significant portion of farmland and that 17% of leased land is often very high quality, productive farmland. Many rumours have been coming from Brussels and...

Common Agricultural Policy (6 Oct 2011)

Simon Coveney: The honest answer is that we do not know. To use the Deputy's terminology, it is certainly still in the mix. We have been involved in conversations on a fairly regular basis with the Commission at official level. We have very good relations with the Commission and it listens to what we have to say. Ireland is one of the key players in CAP from a policy point of view. Because agriculture...