Results 461-480 of 4,255 for speaker:Martin Heydon

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Diseases (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Programme for Government commits to review and update the National TB 2030 Eradication Strategy by working in collaboration with farmers and industry. At the February meeting of the TB Forum it was agreed that all stakeholders would provide proposals on new measures for inclusion in the TB programme aimed at reducing TB levels in cattle against the backdrop of surging disease levels....

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Greyhound Industry (20 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. RCÉ has informed my Department that between 1st January...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: ACRES is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan, with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. Payments in respect of farmers' participation in the ACRES Scheme continue to issue on a weekly basis as cases pass all required validation checks. Last week, I announced that Balancing payments in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: From 1 January 2025, Ireland is operating a system of social conditionality, as required in EU CAP Regulations and Ireland's approved CAP Strategic Plan. The system operates using cross-reporting and will not involve on-farm inspections by my Department. Competent Authorities responsible for the legislation namely the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and the Health and Safety Authority...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The new Programme for Government prioritises “supporting inter-generational farm succession”. Food Vision 2030, our shared strategy for the agri-food sector, states that generational renewal in farming is critically important to ensure the future viability and social sustainability of the Irish agri-food sector and of rural Ireland. Demographic challenges for the agricultural...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Planning Issues (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: This year Ireland will implement significant changes to its planning laws through the Planning and Development Act 2024, which was signed into law by the President of Ireland on 17 October 2024. In the meantime, all aspects of planning continue to be covered by: revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/2000/act/30/revised/en/html, as amended. The Department of Housing is leading on any changes to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Supports (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: It is one of my priorities is to ensure adequate availability and access to long-term investment finance for farmers, including young farmers. My Department works closely with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Finance and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) to provide access to finance supports to small and medium businesses (SMEs) in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Diseases (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: At the February meeting of the TB Forum it was agreed that all stakeholders would provide proposals on new measures for inclusion in the TB programme aimed at reducing TB levels in cattle against the backdrop of surging disease levels. At the TB Forum on 26th March all stakeholders were provided the opportunity to present proposals on draft measures to be incorporated into the TB programme...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) scheme is a measure available under the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3). The practice of low emission slurry spreading is an important, environmentally sustainable, activity that will facilitate Ireland meeting its environmental commitments through reductions in ammonia and other reactive nitrogen emissions from soil. It also...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Diseases (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: At the February meeting of the TB Forum it was agreed that all stakeholders would provide proposals on new measures for inclusion in the TB programme aimed at reducing TB levels in cattle against the backdrop of surging disease levels. At the TB Forum on 26th March all stakeholders were provided the opportunity to present proposals on draft measures to be incorporated into the TB programme...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Diseases (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Ireland's bovine TB Eradication Programme is guided by national and international scientific research and advice. A large body of peer-reviewed research has been conducted into the spread of TB in Ireland and the risks underlying its transmission. This research has found that the principal causes of TB introduction and spread include: movement of cattle with undetected infection residual...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: EU Programmes (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: European Innovation Partnership projects (EIPs) are locally led, innovative projects developed by Operational Groups acting collaboratively to develop innovative solutions to address challenges and put research into practice on farms. As part of the CAP Strategic Plan 2023–2027, an open call for proposals for EIP projects on the overall theme of Environmental Sustainability was...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Energy Policy (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Overall national energy policy formation is the direct responsibility of my colleague Minister Darragh O’Brien in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC). My Department works closely with DECC on energy related matters from an agricultural perspective, as well with a wide range of industry and other stakeholder groupings. The importance of increasing...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Supports (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I would like to thank the Deputy for raising this important topic. Farm safety, health and wellbeing is a priority for this Government. There is a specific focus in the Programme for Government on farmer mental health and wellbeing, recognising the unique challenges faced by the sector. Through dedicated funding of €2.5 million, my Department is continuing to implement...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Greyhound Industry (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: An important pillar of Government policy is to ensure that the greyhound racing industry achieves its maximum potential, and in so doing, contributes to economic and social development over a wide geographic distribution. The greyhound racing industry receives financial support from the State through the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund, under Section 12 of the Horse and Greyhound Racing...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The EPA published Ireland's Final Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990-2023 report in April 2025. The report sets out that total Green House Gas emissions from the Agricultural sector in Ireland in 2023 was 20.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. This represents a year-on-year decrease of 4.9% on 2022 of Green House Gas emissions from the sector. The most significant drivers of this...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Supports (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The proposals for CAP simplification were published last week (14 May) by Commissioner Hansen. I welcome any proposals that will simplify and reduce the administrative burden for farmers and for national administrations. However, as with any new legislation, we will need to carefully examine the details of the proposals,and evaluate the potential impact for Ireland. It is worth...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: ACRES is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan, with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. Payments in respect of farmers' participation in the ACRES Scheme continue to issue on a weekly basis as cases pass all required validation checks. Last week, I announced that Balancing payments in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Diseases (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Bovine TB is a challenging disease to control and eradicate. In recent years, bTB levels have continued to deteriorate, herd incidence has increased from 4.31% in 2022 to 6.04% in 2024, which is a 36% increase in the number of herds restricted between 2022 and 2024. As of 11 May 2025, over a 12 month period we had a herd incidence of 6.3% with over 42,200 reactors. This disease is having an...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (20 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Solar Capital Investment Scheme is a measure under the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3), which provides support to farmers wishing to invest in renewable energy. The scheme has proved to be extremely popular since its launch on 22 February 2023. Approvals have issued for applications in Tranches 1-5 of the scheme, with approvals for Tranche 6 expected to issue shortly....