Results 3,701-3,720 of 23,950 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes. The other issue the Deputy raised with me earlier as well was the issue of payments, which has been topical recently, and I will touch on that. On animal transport, however, the only recent change relates to cross-border transport whereby any transport of animals cross-border has to be registered in the tracing system. That is an EU requirement so that people know what is going from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: In summary, one of the points that was not discussed today or really raised was the meeting I had with the Commissioner but it was raised much over the past few weeks in the wider context. I emphasise the ongoing engagement I have had with the Commission and the Commissioner in respect of this challenge. I had my team visit over recent months to prepare the way regarding the potential...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Since 30 June, that red map has been the position. As to any minor adjustments to it, we will bring that clarity by the end of the month and will work with farmers through the water quality working group on stepping it forward.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Food Industry (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: We need to ensure that is the case. It has not always been the case in the past that the same attention has been paid to the requirements and the oversight of what is coming in compared to what we do within our own borders. With regard to trade deals, which are being renewed or are being initiated for the first time, that question has to be to the forefront. The standards have to be the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Animal Welfare (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy. In December last year, I announced a record allocation of over €5.8 million in funding for 99 animal welfare charities throughout the country, under the animal welfare grants programme. That figure exceeded the commitment in the programme for Government, which was to double the funding allocated within two years. It marks the largest award of grant funding ever...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Animal Welfare (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy. It is important the matter is raised here in the Dáil and highlighted, particularly in advance of the budget. Since we came into office, the Government has doubled the funding. We are very much aware of the challenges many are facing, the important work they are doing and the need for us to support those charities at Government level as well as supporting public...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Animal Welfare (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I am happy to meet the Deputy further on this. I know he has been a strong advocate for this matter and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has given its attention to it. I am certainly happy to continue to work with him to make progress on it. We have work to do; there are real challenges in some parts of the country. The welfare of all horses is not where...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Food Industry (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: As a small open economy, international trade and the global rules-based system which supports that trade are critical for the continued development of the Irish economy. In the case of the Irish agri-food sector, our exports are very high quality. They are sustainably produced goods and we export them to some 180 countries around the world. This highlights the importance of the rules-based...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Food Industry (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It is a really important principle. In order to be fair to our food producers domestically and across the EU, where high standards are set in food safety and sustainability, those same standards should be required of countries we would trade with. Ultimately that food is coming into the same market and competing with the food we produce. It should be meeting the same standard of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Animal Welfare (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Rásaíocht Con Éireann is a commercial State body. Its role is chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. The allocation from the horse and greyhound fund for Rásaíocht Con Éireann is €18.2 million this year. Since 2020, my Department has ring-fenced 10% of the fund allocation to Rásaíocht Con...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Animal Welfare (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: The programme for Government commitment is being significantly advanced through the various initiatives and the funding that Rásaíocht Con Eireann is spending and how it is being allocated. I outlined some of the steps taken in the past two to three years. These are significant steps forward for safeguards around welfare and the supports for greyhounds. For example, 50% of all...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Animal Welfare (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It is a key priority of the Government. It is also a key priority for Rásaíocht Con Éireann, and the management and board. The long-term viability and future for the industry has to be built on good welfare. It is what the public and dog owners expect. It is what all dogs deserve. It is also what Government funding is contingent on. We continue to work closely together....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I take Deputy Ó Cuív's point. It has always been a challenge to get smaller herds into the suckler schemes. That was the experience with the previous scheme as well. This scheme is much more attractive in terms of pay rates. Last time around, somebody with fewer than nine or ten cows would have received €90 per cow. The payment this time around is €150. That is a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It is not that we are leaving anybody out. It is open to everyone. Anyone can apply. I accept what Deputy Ó Cuív is stated to the effect that those who have smaller numbers of animals are not applying in the same percentages as those who have more, but it is open to everyone. In addition, we have increased the payments significantly, from €90 to €150. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: -----its journey is quality assured. As we go forward and as the sustainability ask of consumers across the world and in supermarkets that we are selling to becomes stronger, to be able to say that it is only the last 90 that are quality assured as opposed to the animal's journey that is quality assured becomes something we have to look at in terms of making sure we have a strong scheme and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It has been a challenge to get more participation in quality assurance. It has come a long way but we need to try to have more farmers in it. That is difficult to achieve. It enhances our overall product. The Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, and I are doing trade missions abroad all the time, and the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, is also looking at it from an organic point of view....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: There is no doubt that a move like this will strengthen the sector-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: -----but I accept it is a rationale that at times is challenging to communicate.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: I do not believe it is possible to have a halfway house for quality assurance. We have one national quality assurance scheme and one national brand. It is important this is as strong as possible. Lots of farmers are concerned about taking on the additional administration involved in quality assurance. The experience has been, from those who have made that move and made that jump, that it...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Agriculture Schemes (13 Jul 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: The objective of the suckler carbon efficiency programme, SCEP, is to provide support to suckler and beef farmers to improve the environmental sustainability of the national beef herd. The programme aims to build on the gains already delivered through the beef data and genomics programme, which finished in December, and the beef environmental efficiency programme by improving the genetic...