Results 441-460 of 527 for speaker:Mary Wallace

Afforestation Programme. (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Wallace: Discussions with the European Commission on that matter are ongoing.

Proposed Legislation. (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Wallace: The Animal Remedies Regulations 2005, which are designed to transpose EU Directive 2004/28 as well as to amend certain provisions in our national legislation, came into effect on 17 November last. The EU directive provided, among other elements, that veterinary medicines for food-producing animals may only be supplied on the basis of a veterinary prescription unless exempted from this...

Proposed Legislation. (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Wallace: All the issues are being considered. One area of concern was the expectation that the Commission would adopt the draft criteria proposals after the meeting at the end of March, but no formal decision was taken and we still await one. At the end of this year we can go in one of two directions, depending on the result of the Commission's deliberations. We will have to consider the Deputy's...

Proposed Legislation. (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Wallace: We have succeeded to the extent that, if we had not taken the stance we took, we would have had to designate the range of medicines as POMs 14 months earlier than at present. At least the status quo remains for the moment and will do so until the end of this year. If we had changed the regulations last year, we could have been accused of undermining our negotiating position with the...

Animal Diseases. (31 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. The Department of Agriculture and Food is responsible for implementing arrangements for the approval and registration of persons engaged in dealing in cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry under the Diseases of Animals (Amendment) Act 2001. As the Deputy said, that Act was introduced in the context of concerns that arose during the foot and mouth disease...

Food Safety. (18 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: Harmonized EU regulations have been introduced to control the import and trade in meat and milk products. Imports of these products, including the imports for personal use, are banned, other than where products are presented at approved border inspection posts. My Department has a number of measures in place to raise awareness of these regulations. Transport operators who bring passengers...

Food Safety. (18 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: Our understanding is that there is very active vigilance and great co-operation between our Department and the Customs and Excise personnel searching for excisable goods. Searches are carried out in conjunction with both. One of the key ways we have of identifying people coming from third countries is to interview them. We find the interviews are a success in that respect, and they are...

Food Safety. (18 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: With regard to a multi-language campaign, I was in the Department today to see the number of posters available in 52 different languages, so that shows the effort in that area.

Food Safety. (18 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: With regard to departmental staff at Dublin Airport, the Minister of State, Deputy Smith, is whispering in my ear to complain that a person from his office was recently transferred to the airport. The airport staff has been enhanced recently.

Food Safety. (18 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: The Minister of State is complaining he has lost a good member of staff, so the best of staff are being transferred to Dublin Airport. Deputy Upton asked about identifying food. One area currently under consideration is the deployment of sniffer dogs specially trained to detect food. Anything else that can be done with regard to this issue will be done, but our current experience indicates...

Departmental Investigations. (18 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: My Department, with other agencies and the private veterinary practitioners of the person named, has been carrying out investigations to try to establish the source of the problems on the farm in question. The problems relate mainly to ill thrift and stunted growth of a number of cattle on the farm as well as severe milk yield loss in the dairy herd. It had been suggested that one of the...

Departmental Investigations. (18 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: It has not yet been proven that pollution damage is the cause of the problems on the farm. It is clear from the reports available to the Department that no evidence of a fluorine problem has been found thus far. Investigations into this issue are ongoing and while results from EPA monitoring of emissions from the factory in question are becoming available, they have not yet been analysed....

Departmental Investigations. (18 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: I assure the Deputy that the Department and all the players at the table, including the EPA, Teagasc and the veterinary faculty of UCD, will continue to make an important input into this issue and make every effort to resolve it. I stress, however, that no specific source of the problems on the farm in question has been identified to date, despite the commitment of considerable expert and...

Departmental Investigations. (18 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: I hope we emerge from the meeting on 2 June knowing much more than we do today. The Department's veterinary department is preparing a detailed report on all the work carried out on specific animals on the farm and other matters. A large number of people have carried out a considerable amount of work on this issue. More will be done, however, and there will be no difficulty in making available...

Company Closures. (10 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: The compensation package negotiated in the context of reform of the EU sugar regime is worth more than €310 million to Irish stakeholders. It will be drawn down in accordance with the regulations governing the new EU sugar regime, which comes into effect from 1 July 2006. There are three elements to the compensation package. The first element is the compensation to beet growers of up to 64%...

Grant Payments. (4 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: I welcome the opportunity to comment on this matter. There is renewed interest in the potential of energy crops, including miscanthus and short rotation coppice, having regard to environmental considerations and the increasing cost of fossil fuels. In this context, the Department is working closely with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, which is responsible for...

Forestry Sector. (4 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: I thank Deputy Eamon Ryan for raising this matter. As the Deputy is aware, Coillte Teoranta was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act 1988 and day-to-day operational matters are the responsibility of the company. Clear felling is an operational matter for the company and my Department is involved in this issue in so far as it is responsible for the issue of...

Poultry Sector. (4 May 2006)

Mary Wallace: In the last six months the European poultry industry has been experiencing market difficulties as a result of the reduction in demand for poultry meat. This resulted from consumer concerns arising from the publicity surrounding avian influenza. The problem has been felt acutely in Mediterranean countries while more northerly countries have encountered far fewer problems. The current situation...

Animal Carcase Disposal. (29 Mar 2006)

Mary Wallace: The safe disposal of specified risk material, SRM, and other offal plays an important part in the protection of human and animal health and is an integral part of the EU legally enforced BSE controls in the meat sector. Conscious of the need to protect consumer health from vCJD, the human form of BSE, Ireland has consistently supported control measures to exclude from the food chain products...

Animal Carcase Disposal. (29 Mar 2006)

Mary Wallace: We are not aware of the incident to which the Deputy referred. If he has such information, we would be pleased if he would notify us immediately of same. Our advice and knowledge is that there is sale element involved in this process because it is a cost to the industry. The industry has to pay for the proper disposal of the materials, chiefly through incineration in Germany and other member...