Results 4,061-4,080 of 18,593 for speaker:Michael Creed

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Brexit Issues (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I appreciate the Deputy's ongoing interest in this issue. Ireland has a strong reputation for the quality of its horses and the quality of its horsemanship. The current EU rules on the movement of horses between EU member states require that the animals being moved are inspected by an official veterinarian and accompanied by a veterinary health certificate issued under the EU TRACES system...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Brexit Issues (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: The Department has had extensive and ongoing negotiations with the industry and the Commission on this matter. I raised the subject with Commissioner Hogan on Monday of last week in Brussels. It does not just affect the thoroughbred sector because the horse sport sector also sees very considerable volume. I saw figures recently suggesting that anything up to 30,000 sport horses outside of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Brexit Issues (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I acknowledge the Deputy's ongoing interest in this area. Given where he is from, it is a critical issue. We have had extensive engagement. It is an issue of which we are very aware. It will involve change to the current arrangements but we are endeavouring to make those as user-friendly and efficient as possible.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Environmental Efficiency Scheme Pilot (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: The infrastructure will be in place, including the weighing scales. We will have a nationwide network of scales to be provided by the successful tenderer. That process will commence on 8 March. The ambition, about which I am confident, is that the hiring out of those weighing scales or the use of approved weighing scales by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, ICBF, if they are owned or...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Environmental Efficiency Scheme Pilot (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: On the last point, if the scheme is over-subscribed it will require a linear cut. We expect the participation rate to be similar to that for the BDGP which, at 500,000, would allow for the payment as envisaged under the scheme. If it is over-subscribed, it will require a linear cut across the board. On the issue of simplicity, the scheme is very user-friendly. All that farmers need to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Common Agricultural Policy (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: The new legislative proposals for the CAP for the period 2021 to 2027 were launched on Friday, 1 June 2018 by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Phil Hogan. The proposals as drafted involve significant changes, including in relation to governance, the distribution of direct payments among farmers and the increasing environmental conditionality attaching to such...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Common Agricultural Policy (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I appreciate that Deputy Ó Cuív may have had other business to attend to earlier but I already had a discussion with Deputy Martin Kenny on the reference years issue. It is not fair to say that the reference years are an anachronism because the system has moved so much in terms of convergence. In fact, in the period of the current CAP, more than €100 million will have moved...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: If the Irish agriculture sector was transposed lock, stock and barrel to the United Kingdom, France, Germany or any other industrialised country where the average profile of emissions is about 10% of its total, it would halve the equivalent of what the United Kingdom and other countries are at. We are leaders on our journey to sustainability. Deputy Wallace argues that the livestock sector...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: This is a complex issue which cannot be boiled down for the purpose of a soundbite to simplistic political messages.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: The Deputy has been pointing fingers, but I am not a climate change denier. However, I acknowledge the limited potential in the agriculture sector. We will squeeze out every piece of potential to drive down the carbon footprint and make the industry more efficient. The Deputy comes from the constituency of Wexford where the agriculture industry thrives in the dairy, beef and tillage...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: This is our biggest indigenous industry. I did not interrupt the Deputy.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: It is our biggest indigenous industry.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: It is, relatively speaking on a global scale, carbon efficient. It can and must do more and will, but it will not close down and have the product the Deputy would put out of business-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: -----displaced and replaced by beef from South America or dairy products with a far higher carbon footprint.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Beef Environmental Efficiency Scheme Pilot (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I launched the beef environmental efficiency pilot scheme on 30 January. The launch was covered in the agriculture media. Applications for participation in the pilot scheme will be accepted from Monday, 4 February to 22 February. The terms and conditions and information on the process and application procedure are available on my Department's website. The procurement process for the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fishing Industry (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: The points system is for serious infringements. I received the Attorney General's advice in late 2018 and it is under consideration. We have consulted extensively. The Deputy knows, although it may not suit his purpose in the Chamber, that there has been considerable engagement with him and the Fianna Fáil Party leader on this matter.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fur Farming (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: My Department has statutory responsibility for the welfare and protection of farmed animals under the European Communities (Welfare of Farmed Animals) Regulations 2010 (Statutory Instrument No. 311/2010) and the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. In that regard, Irish fur farmers are subject to the same animal welfare legislation as other livestock farmers. A review of all aspects of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fur Farming (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: I am aware of the report from Veterinary Ireland to which the Deputy alludes. I am aware of the review that took place and the improved regulations the Department has introduced in this area. I am also aware of the employment in the industry, a fact that is rarely commented on. I do not have any imprimatur by virtue of the programme for Government or a mandate from the people to proceed by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fur Farming (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: As the Deputy is aware, we are obliged to operate within EU legislation and our own animal welfare legislation of 2013. Since the review was conducted, we have, in fact, strengthened the legal framework within which fur farmers operate. According to figures I have seen, about which I cannot be definitive, there are in excess of 100 people working in the industry in Ireland. That cannot...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (6 Feb 2019)

Michael Creed: The analogy between Irish agriculture and the coal industry is rather unfortunate. Ireland has a comparative advantage in grass-based, carbon-efficient livestock production. The European Commission Joint Research Centre report of 2010 found Ireland was the most carbon-efficient producer in the European Union per unit of dairy production and the fifth most carbon-efficient producer of beef...