Results 4,341-4,360 of 11,320 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: Giving the Minister the benefit of the doubt, if this was not his preferred option, I take it that he did not envisage a deal with an organisation like Gresham House, a British investment fund. Had he known before the deal was signed off on, would he have used his authority as Minister to stop it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: It is a yes-no answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I will come to that but the Chair is running a very tight clock.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I am not allowing the Minister to run down the clock-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: -----because here is the issue. The Minister did know before 16 December and the reason I know he knew is because I had heard of this potential deal with Gresham House and brought it to his attention. I raised it in the Dáil and not only did I do, but Deputies Fitzmaurice and Boyd Barrett also raised it. They told him in November. We also had an engagement with Coillte the week...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: The Minister can clarify if I am wrong but I take it that he signed a letter of expectation to Coillte in June 2022. What was the purpose of that letter of expectation? Why did he feel the need to sign it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: So it was specifically to allow it to pursue this proposal?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I take it that then was specifically to allow it to pursue that course. In relation to-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: The Minister has just informed us that Coillte is seeking to invest €10 million of its own funds in this joint venture. Why would Coillte not just invest that €10 million on it own part? Why would it need to do this? Why would it not just use what is public money in its own venture?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: What the Minister is suggesting is that €10 million-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: The Minister is suggesting that the €10 million invested in this joint venture will not then be subject to the state aid rules, as opposed to were Coillte to invest in-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: Okay. State aid rules have been cited not as a reason but as the primary reason. That is what Coillte told us when its representatives appeared before the committee in December and that is what the party leader of the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, has said, namely, that this is down to EU state aid rules. I ask the Minister to be as concise as possible but what efforts have he and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: But the state aid rules are in place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: In advance of that, what efforts did the Minister of State make to ensure that those state aid rules would allow Coillte to invest directly, as opposed to the need for these joint ventures?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: No, the state aid rules have been under review for some time. The Commission carried out a review of the state aid instruments for agriculture, forestry and rural areas and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine made a submission to that and got involved in the consultation process in 2021. The European Commission very helpfully published all of the submissions they received...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I know that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I am asking a specific question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: Okay, the Minister is either purposely missing the point or simply missing the point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: I am taking the Chair-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Policy and Strategy: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (25 Jan 2023)

Matt Carthy: Here is the issue. The new state aid rules are in place since 1 January. My question was on what the Minister had done proactively to try to ensure the state aid rules would address what Coillte had said was the reason it was engaging in this way and needed the private element to its funding, which related to the state aid rules. I pointed to a written record that shows the Department,...