Results 6,101-6,120 of 23,948 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Industry (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I thank all of those who participated in the food vision beef and sheep group as well as the stakeholders and representatives who participated in the food vision dairy group. As the Deputy will be aware, we have a 25% reduction in emissions to achieve by the end of 2030 from the agriculture sector as part of our overall contribution to achieving...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Deputy will be aware, I have committed to helping the cohort of farmers known as “forgotten farmers”. This has been a long-standing commitment of mine from the time that I was in opposition to the time that I entered the Government. I ensured that it was part of the programme for Government commitments, and I have been following through on it since. The Department has...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: There is no resistance and the commitment is crystal clear. For many years, there had been no commitment to these farmers. There was no proposal, plan or Government commitment to address them and to making sure that a scheme was put in place to reflect the fact that they did not get a fair crack of the whip. I made sure when I came out of opposition and went into government that it was a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Schemes (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I am engaged with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform around what will be required to deliver a scheme. That will become clear whenever we publish the application criteria and the detail around it, and not until then. What is clear at this point is the commitment from me to drive this forward and to deliver on it, as well as to deliver on the promise that I made to the forgotten...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I advise that obviously I have no responsibility for the organisation of representative farm bodies.  However, the Deputy will be aware gender equality is a key a priority for me and for the Government. It is also a core principle of the European Union, and the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) Regulations place a particular focus on promoting the participation of women in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Checks carried out at points of entry to the European Single Market are key to the protection of food safety, animal and plant health, and animal welfare standards in the European Union. Live animals, animal products, regulated plants, and certain types of foods of non-animal origin are required to be presented for sanitary and phytosanitary checks at the border control post, or BCP, at...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Teagasc in co-operation with the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation and Bord Bia is building a new Sustainability Digital Platform to allow farmers to count carbon emissions and sequestration on their farms. The Platform is a key pillar of Teagasc’s new Climate Action Strategy to support farmers and the industry to respond to the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions....

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Trade Missions (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The promotion of Ireland's high-quality, safe, nutritious, and sustainably produced food remains a core objective of my Department and its agencies.  Trade Missions play an important role in our support for the Irish agri-food sector's ambition to grow both the value and volume of our exports to international markets.  As a country which exports 90% of the food we produce, we must...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is the agri-environment climate measure in Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023 – 2027. It is the successor to the Green Low Carbon Agri-environment Scheme (GLAS) which was available under Ireland’s Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. ACRES is a voluntary scheme whereby farmers, when approved into the Scheme, will...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Prices (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy may be aware that the Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order 1987 prohibited below invoice price selling for certain products. That Order was revoked in 2006 by the then Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.   Studies have found that laws banning below-cost selling failed to safeguard the parties they aim to protect from declining market shares and often lead to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Deputy will be aware, the agriculture sector was assigned a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030 based on a 2018 baseline of 23MT CO2 eq. This reduction in emissions will contribute to the economy wide reduction of 51% by 2030. It is a challenging and ambitious target but is one that farmers and the industry are committed to achieving. ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Inshore Fisheries (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) sets down a legal framework for the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources. Within this legal framework, I consistently work to support the interests of inshore fishers. I have strongly pursued the delivery of the restriction on larger vessels inside 6nm, which is a commitment in our Programme for Government. However, in 2019, a...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: At the outset, I want to express both mine and the Government's commitment to the sheep sector. Our sheep farmers produce a world-class product and the sheep sector plays a critical role in the overall success of our €13.5bn agri-food export industry.  The core targeted support for the sector under the CAP Strategic Plan from 2023 will be the Sheep Improvement Scheme, which...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Organic Farming (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I am determined to deliver on the Programme for Government target to reach 7.5% of land farmed organically and key to this is the enhanced budget support for organics of €256 million in our CAP Strategic Plan.  Increasing the number of organic farms in the State and continuing to build a dynamic organic sector continues to be a priority for this Government.  The...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Cost of Living Issues (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: To help all families, individuals and businesses deal with the rising cost of living, the Government announced a package of once-off measures worth €4.1bn as part of the overall €11bn Budget 2023. Measures of particular assistance to the agri-food sector included: the continuation of the reduction of excise duty on agricultural diesel to nil; the Temporary Business Energy...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Fisheries Policy (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As indicated in my reply to question of 1304 of 8 November 2022, the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) Regulation (Regulation EU 1380/2013) provides that the European Commission will report to the European Parliament and the Council on the functioning of the CFP by the end of 2022.  Earlier this year, I established a national Common Fisheries Policy Review group of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Brexit Issues (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Since the end of the Brexit transition period, (from 1st January 2021), there were initial difficulties adjusting to the new trading environment. These have now largely settled down. In general, businesses have done a good job adjusting to new import control requirements applicable to commodities coming from Britain. This reflects the flexibility and adaptability of businesses in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I am a huge admirer of the Burren scheme and its achievements over the years. It is for this reason that we have taken the best features of that scheme and incorporated them into ACRES which is the flagship agri-environment scheme under the new CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. The Government has committed €1.5 billion to ACRES over the term 2023 to 2027. This is the largest amount...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: At the Agriculture and Fisheries Council held on the 21 November, there were three fisheries related items. All three were information points from the Commission and I will go through each item in turn. The Commission provided information on its forthcoming initiative on the energy transition in the EU fisheries and aquaculture sectors, which aims to set out concrete actions to help the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Safety (8 Dec 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Farm Safety is always an integral part of any scheme administered by my Department. Minister of State Martin Heydon has specific responsibility for farm safety and has done an excellent job in this space.  Grant aid is provided through Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) for the installation of Solar PV technology along with battery storage on Irish farms. This aid...