Results 421-440 of 4,109 for speaker:Martin Heydon

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: GAEC 2 is a mandatory condition of the payment of the Basic Income Support for Farmers (BISS). It is intended to protect peatlands and wetlands. The EU Regulation governing the CAP Strategic Plans requires all Member States to have a standard in place this year at the latest. I have no powers, statutory or otherwise, to defer the application of this requirement. The standard proposed...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Diseases (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Bovine Tuberculosis is a challenging disease to control and eradicate. I am acutely aware of the financial and emotional trauma associated with a TB breakdown, and the associated hardship for farming families. Left unchecked, this disease will impact many more farm families, and therefore it is essential that we take measures now that can reverse the current trends. In this context it is...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Flood Relief Schemes (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Following exceptional flooding in the Shannon Callows during the summer of 2023, on the 7th of November 2023 the Shannon Callows Flood Scheme was announced as a once-off measure. The aim of the scheme was to support farmers who had lost fodder due to flooding in the region during summer 2023. My Department contacted the farmers that the Area Monitoring System (AMS) identified as having been...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Septic Tanks (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3) provides grant aid to farmers to build and/or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. In January this year, I introduced an enhanced grant rate and a dedicated ceiling for Nutrient Storage investments. This 60% grant rate is open to all farmers, who submit applications in respect of slurry storage,...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Wildlife Protection (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021, a Private Members Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Dáil last November. When the Bill was proceeding through the Seanad my Department raised some concerns in relation to imposing a statutory ban on the importation of non-native honey bees as it could constitute a restriction on trade under EU Regulations. Advice was...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Inspections (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I have been informed by my Department that the annual herd test for Mr. John Phelan has been postponed for one month and the herdowner has been informed.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Cycling Facilities (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The number of Cycle to Work Scheme applications processed and paid by my Department in the years 2020 to 2024 inclusive is as follows: Year No. of Applications 2020 109 2021 166 2022 106 2023 95 2024 87 The matter of the number of Cycle to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) aims to provide support to beef farmers to improve the environmental sustainability of the national beef herd. The programme aims to build on the gains delivered in recent years through the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) and the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme (BEEP) by improving the genetic merit of the Irish suckler herd. ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The person named submitted an application under the ACRES General stream and was approved into Tranche 2 of the scheme, with a commencement date of 1st January 2024. I have been advised that payment has not yet issued in this case as it is one of a cohort of cases containing rotational actions, in respect of which payments are expected to start issuing in the coming weeks. As the Deputy may...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Funding (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: In 2006, the EU introduced a restructuring mechanism intended to reduce overall production of sugar, acknowledging the then global over supply and resultant low prices. Ireland received€353 million as part of the reform package with some €220 million being distributed to beet growers and a further €6 million to machinery contractors in the sector. Since 2006, a number...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department received state aid approval letter for the Afforestation elements of the Forestry Programme in August 2023. Among the conditions of the approval was condition 63 which reads “The inappropriate afforestation of sensitive habitats such as peat lands and wetlands will be avoided, as well as the negative effects on areas of high ecological value including areas under high...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: As part of Budget 2025 my Department secured an allocation of €5 million for 2025 to support the group of farmers commonly referred to as forgotten farmers. Work is ongoing to address a number of remaining issues, before the details of the eligibility requirements and benefits to successful applicants under any scheme can be finalised.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (7 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: This felling licence application was received on the 12th February 2025. It is currently going through my Department's forestry licensing process. Registered foresters can see the progress of the application on my Department's Licence Tracker through the iNET facility and applicants can access it through their Agfood account. If an applicant does not have an account for Agfood, they can...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Nitrates Usage (1 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I recognise how important the dairy industry is to west Cork and to the wider rural community. As Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I am committed to doing everything in my power to develop the sectors for which I am responsible and to communicate a fresh understanding of what it is. Our farmers, fishers, foresters and the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Nitrates Usage (1 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Senator for raising a vital issue. It is important it be discussed in the Seanad today. I accept his invitation to west Cork. I look forward to going down and meeting many of those farmers with him and seeing the great work happening in that space. This is all about trends and all about the science backing up our argument. We know the economic argument for this. I am clear...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Inquiries (1 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Rásaíocht Con Éireann (RCÉ) is a commercial state body, established under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958 chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. RCÉ is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The question raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (1 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department recognises that the recent storms Darragh and Éowyn, have caused varying degrees of damage around the country, including significant damage to trees and in some cases electricity infrastructure and that this presents challenges to all stakeholders in forestry. My Department is in regular contact with the ESB, particularly in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn. The...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Schemes (1 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Following the latest payment run on 25 April 2025, 43,368 ACRES participants, or just under 97%, are fully paid in respect of the 2023 scheme year. This means that 1,492 participants have not yet had their 2023 contract finalised, of which 1,198 have already received an interim payment of either €4,000 or €5,000, respectively. In relation to the 2024 scheme year, 47,477...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fisheries Protection (1 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: On an annual basis, my Department completes a Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) to examine the overall impacts the possible fishing opportunities for the following year could have on the sustainability of the fishing sector from a biological, economic and social perspective. The SIA is based on the advice on fish stocks published by the International Council for the Exploration of the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Schemes (1 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The responsibility for the development and maintenance of local authority owned piers, harbours and slipways rests with each local authority in the first instance and their parent Department, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, thereafter. My Department, as a sub-scheme of its annual Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme, provides limited...