Results 6,041-6,060 of 11,413 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: This head mentions that the Minister may consult the office regarding proposals for legislation in terms of fairness and transparency. The office could bring proposals but there is no obligation on the Minister to act. Is there a mechanism by which, at a minimum, there would be an obligation on the Minister to outline why he or she has not acted?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: On general powers of inspection, providing for seizing documents or equipment, do those powers include the power to identify beneficial ownership of an entity? It is head 46. It is on the general power of inspection. If a complaint is made against a body - large processors, for example - will the inspectors or authorised officers have the right to identify the beneficial owner?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: That is not necessarily the same thing as the beneficial owner. The person in charge of the premises could be a company in the Isle of Man. It might not be the person who owns the companies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: Okay. That is okay for now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: On that, the time limit for instituting proceedings is two years. It seems to be fairly short. We have a number of submissions that have advocated for three years. It appears to be an incredibly tight timeframe for proceedings to be brought within two years from the date of the alleged commission of the offence. Considering that this is a body that has to carry out a piece of work, make a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: One of the submissions stated that the time limit of three years would cater for a potential delay on the part of the complainant to bring a complaint to the office in the first instance. One can see that if somebody only realises he or she has been subject to an unfair trading practice perhaps six months after it happens, when maybe an accountant brings it to his or her attention, and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: The level of the potential fine on conviction on indictment of €500,000 might appear to be a large sum, but it is not for some of the operators. The transposition of the ECN+ directive this year gave the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, power to issue fines of up to €10 million or 10% of turnover. The general data protection regulation, GDPR, provides for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: It is the greatest penalty that can be applied.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: For any offence in this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: I ask the Minister to look at that and to look at the legislation the Dáil has passed. There are two legislative measures in particular, but the one relating to the CCPC is the most appropriate on that. I have a question about head 55, which is about the exact opposite. It provides for a fixed penalty of €250 to €1,000. Can we get a sense of what type of infringements...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: The €1,000 is the maximum.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: On foot of Senator Paul Daly's earlier point, is it possible that a fixed payment mechanism can be put in place? If somebody was infringed to the tune of that type of money because of a breach of UTP, could this office pass a fixed payment instruction that the processor or retailer pays the supplier in respect of that? Does Ms Robinson understand the question?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: If there are unfair trading practices, somebody has been treated unfairly. Senator Daly put it very well earlier. People found guilty of committing an offence pay a fine. The office can tick a box and save everyone from going to court. The only person who gets nothing is the person who had to pay to get the complaint considered in the first place. That person will be down money.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: That person has to go to court.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: That person cannot issue a fixed notice penalty.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: May I ask the Minister about the timeframe for the legislation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: This is important legislation. I hope that, following these deliberations, the Minister will take some of our suggestions on board. I can see scope for a number of amendments that would strengthen the Bill. Is it the Minister's attention that an appropriate full-length Committee Stage will be offered so that every amendment can be considered?

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Renewable Energy Generation (23 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: 79. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the timeframe in which he intends to introduce new regulations to provide exemptions from the requirement to obtain planning permission with regard to the installation of solar panels on farms; and the intended timeframe with regard to supplementary regulations intended to reduce proposed restriction zones. [33081/22]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East (23 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: 118. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the proposed timeframe to honour the Government commitment to recognise the state of Palestine. [33097/22]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (23 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: 147. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of outstanding backlog in passport applications; the number of which originate from County Monaghan; the total number of applications processed in May 2022 and the current number of staff in the Passport Office. [33096/22]