Results 481-500 of 3,577 for speaker:Martin Heydon

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Commonage Land Use (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: Each year farmers through the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based schemes application are required to declare all lands that they farm, including commonages. Specifically for commonage land, farmers are required to provide evidence of their right to declare the land by the provision of supporting legal documentation such as a land folio. They are also...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Livestock Issues (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Merino Sheep is not a recognised breed society in Ireland and does not operate an approved breeding programme in accordance with the EU Animal Breeding Regulations. My Department does not compile statistics on the number of herds and no direct financial supports specifically for this breed are provided by my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Livestock Issues (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: Each year my Department carries out a census of sheep. This census counts the number of flocks keeping sheep, the number of sheep kept and the breeds of those sheep. The number of flocks, keeping Galway sheep, returned as per the census in the years 2020 to 2023 is set out in the table below. Analysis of the 2024 sheep census is ongoing. Flocks declaring Galway breed in census return ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Livestock Issues (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Dexter Breed Society is recognised by Department and operates an approved breeding programme in accordance with the EU Animal Breeding Regulations. I am informed by the Dexter Cattle Society of the following: Information required 2021 2022 2023 2024 Total number of breeding...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Livestock Issues (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Kerry Cattle is one of our oldest native breeds with cows bred predominantly for milk production. The Kerry Cattle was once the dominant breed in Ireland, with a reputation for durability in the past farming landscape while producing quality milk. It is believed to be one of the oldest breeds in Europe. However, it is now a breed considered to be seriously at risk, as farmers have moved...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Livestock Issues (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: Each year my Department carries out a census of goats. This Census counts the number of herds keeping goats and the number of goats kept. The number of goats returned as per the census in the years 2020 to 2023 is set out in the table below. Analysis of the 2024 goat census is ongoing. Goat herds who made a census return Year No. of herds 2020 ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticulture Sector (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: The then Minister’s stated objective at the time of the merger of Bord Bia with Bord Glas in 2004 was that both sectors would be better served by the joint expertise of an amalgamated body that could achieve the synergies necessary to best promote and market both food and horticulture at home and abroad. Since the merger, Bord Bia has actively worked to promote and develop the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Livestock Issues (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department's livestock database does not maintain a specific herd category for llamas and alpacas. Operators keeping these species are required to be registered with the Department and to obtain a herd number. The livestock species associated with these herd numbers is "other" and it is not currently possible to extract camelid specific herds from this category. A new category of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: Felling licence applications may have an operational period of up to 10 years, with timings for harvesting events, whether thinning, clearfell or both, contained at periods within that. The following information has been obtained from Departmental records, and where a licence application had both a thinning and clearfell event, the hectares to be thinned or clearfelled are shown in their...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: Felling licences may have an operational period of up to 10 years, with timings for harvesting events, whether thinning, clearfell or both, contained at periods within that. The following information has been obtained from Departmental records and where a licence had both a thinning and clearfell event, the hectares to be thinned or clearfelled are shown in their respective years. Some...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department will publish the Forestry Licensing Plan for 2025 in the coming weeks, taking account of developments on foot of the recent storms, Darragh and Éowyn. The Plan will cover Afforestation, Roads, Private and Coillte felling licences. It is likely that the profile of applications my department receives will be affected by the number of forests with windblow. My...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishery Harbour Centres (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department operates and maintains six designated State-owned Fishery Harbour Centres, located at Castletownbere, Dingle, Dunmore East, Howth, Killybegs and Ros An Mhíl under statute. All capital projects are subject to rigorous project management processes including design, tender action and implementation stages; and ongoing monitoring, evaluation and review in accordance with...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Appointments (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department is committed to ensuring that a skilled and motivated workforce is in place to meet its priority business needs. To achieve this, workforce planning is utilised in identifying and addressing the needs for all our locations. All critical staffing vacancies are filled as soon as possible when suitable candidates become available, considering the balance of needs and resources...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: In December 2018, a transition period to a ban on vessels over 18 metres trawling in inshore waters, inside the six nautical mile zone was announced. A significant part of the objective of this measure was to manage the fishing effort on sprat stocks which are primarily targeted within inshore waters. This measure, however, was the subject of extended legal proceedings the outcome of which...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Properties (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: I wish to inform the Deputy that the information requested is set out in the attached table. County Details of the empty building Value of the property Length of time they have lain empty Physical status of each building Kildare Stacumney Cottage €350,000 Fair value as of 31st December 2023 Vacant since...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Properties (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: I wish to inform the Deputy that the information requested is set out in the attached table. County Details of undeveloped site Value of the property Length of time they have lain undeveloped Reason for the lack of development Cork Castletownbere x 3 No recent state valuation* 1 year approx The sites had...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Appointments (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: In response to the Global Ireland 2025 Strategy, and in keeping with my Department’s own goal to develop market opportunities abroad as outlined under the Food Vision 2030 strategy, my Department has expanded its staffing in international locations in recent years. In addition to established posts in locations such as Brussels, London, Paris, Geneva, Washington DC and Beijing,...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Artificial Intelligence (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: My Department has taken advice in respect of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the Department during the development of the AI policy, from the following organisations.The Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council.Gartner Ireland Limited Research and Consultancy Service.CeADAR the National Centre for AI and the European Digital Innovation Hub for AI in Ireland. The following AI...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: The Bluefin Tuna quota available to the EU is allocated each year to Member States based on relative stability, as established in the late 1990s. At that time, Ireland did not have a track record of commercial fishing for Bluefin Tuna, and accordingly, did not receive a quota allocation. A small Bluefin Tuna by-catch quota is available to Ireland, primarily for use in our important...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Usage (18 Feb 2025)

Martin Heydon: Last August my Department published "Water and Agriculture - a collaborative approach" which identifies the measures taking place, as well as my Department's role in working with the agri-food industry and farmers in tandem to improve water quality. This included the establishment and ongoing facilitation of the Agriculture Water Quality Working Group which has operated since 2023. The...