Results 621-640 of 766 for speaker:Pippa Hackett

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Aug 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I will return to the piece around the future policy of the forestry sector to which the Deputy referred earlier. That will be a decision of the citizens of this State. We are going to consult widely. The Department will roll out that policy but Department officials do not write the policy. The role of the Department is to serve the people and the Government of the time. It is unfair to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Aug 2021)

Pippa Hackett: It has been ongoing for a number of years because of challenges at EU court level and changes in European decisions. That has forced our hand and required a different way of issuing licences. That has caused the backlog. What we were doing until a couple of years ago was wrong. It was challenged in court and found to be wrong. That has caused a knock-on effect on where we go now. We are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Aug 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I wish to reassure the Deputy that the system to regulate forestry, whether it is private or public, is exactly the same. Every licence has to deliver on the same requirements. If appropriate assessments are required for either, then both have to do them. There is something of a narrative that Coillte is shown a favourable disposition compared with private operators. That is simply not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Aug 2021)

Pippa Hackett: The Deputy referred to the target of 4,500 licences to be issued this year. My officials have assured me that we are going to get there. Despite the slowdown in July caused by the statutory instrument, we will catch up. We were on an upward trajectory towards the end of June. That would have continued. I look forward to seeing that continue and achieving an increased number. In itself...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Aug 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I suggest the challenges are from other land use sectors. We have seen expansion in the dairy sector in recent years. That puts pressure on. It is easy for a farmer to rent land to a dairy farmer potentially when he knows he will get his land back after five or ten years, if he signs a lease that is long enough. If we put that up against afforesting land for 30 years, it is a decision...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Aug 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I thank the Chair. I will go through his questions in no particular order. I have scribbled notes in front of me. The Chair mentioned premiums for afforestation. That is something to look at in the next programme from 2023 onwards. When we decide what our new forestry strategy will be, it can feed into that. It will be a strategy for the next 50 years. As immediate an issue as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Challenges for the Forestry Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Aug 2021)

Pippa Hackett: The 30 days are there and once the licence is issued, there is a 14-day window for appeals, which was reduced from 28 days because of this situation. The net gain for public participation is still two weeks, since there are six weeks of public participation. Not everyone is satisfied with reducing that appeals window from 28 days to 14 days but in light of what the 30-day public...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Jul 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I also extend my warmest congratulations to Deputy Bacik on her election. What a wonderful addition to the Dáil she will be. Irish agriculture must change. The change required to put it on course is transformational and the 2020s must be the decade that starts that substantial directional change. The last major food systems shift was in the post-war decades. The misnamed green...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fishing Industry (28 Jun 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I thank Senator Cummins for bringing this matter to our attention. It is an important issue. I appreciate the Senator's recognition of the €3.1 million investment in marine amenities in his area. The possible designation of Dunmore East as a landing port for UK-registered Northern Ireland fishing vessels is an important matter.As the House will be aware, in January 2021, the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fishing Industry (28 Jun 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I again thank Senator Cummins. He acknowledged the reasons behind the designation. There is quite a difference in the landing figures between Howth and Dunmore East, notwithstanding the geographically strategic importance of Dunmore East. As the Minister has indicated, the designation is open for consideration. Regarding the weighing of fish at ports, although it is unfortunate, I am sure...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Environmental Policy (28 Jun 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I thank the Senators for bringing this important Commencement matter to the House. As they both know, I fully acknowledge the important contribution bees make not only to agriculture and biodiversity but also as an important activity for people. Indeed, beekeepers are very passionate about what they do. In this regard, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine provides a range of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Environmental Policy (28 Jun 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I thank both Senators once more for bringing this to the House. Joking aside, this is a serious issue. We have had bees on the roof of Agriculture House. They are not there at the moment because we are getting the roof fixed but I understand they will be back next season. I look forward to it.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Environmental Policy (28 Jun 2021)

Pippa Hackett: They absolutely better be. I will certainly make sure of that. We have made progress on this in the last couple of months, more so than what happened previously. As Senator Martin said, the beekeepers are a long time waiting for this. Hopefully the work between Department officials, the associations, the NPWS and whoever else needs to be involved will progress this. We just have to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Horticulture Sector (28 Jun 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I thank the Senator for bringing this very important issue to the House. I appreciate the importance of the mushroom sector in Ireland, particularly in the Senator's own area of Monaghan. My Department has no involvement in the regulation of peat extraction. This is a planning process under the remit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and an integrated pollution...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Horticulture Sector (28 Jun 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I agree with the Senator. There is a strong understanding in the mushroom sector and the wider horticulture sector that in the future, peat will not play a major role in their production but we need that just transition. We need to be able to support the sector and move to that place where it is not so reliant on peat. Within the mushroom sector, the research has looked at spent mushroom...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I welcome the Minister. I have four children and want the world they and their children live in as adults to be one that renews, refreshes and reinvigorates itself, not one that continues to degrade, decay and destruct. That, quite simply, is what this Bill is about. Life as we know it must change; otherwise, we will condemn our children and grandchildren to a bleak future with greater...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Common Agricultural Policy (14 Jun 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this matter. It is good to hear that he was in County Laois at the weekend. Government Departments and their agencies work collaboratively to collectively protect water quality in Ireland. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the lead authority for the nitrates regulations and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Common Agricultural Policy (14 Jun 2021)

Pippa Hackett: I reassure the Senator that the Department and I are committed to supporting those small farmers. They are indeed vital to rural areas. Whether they are full time or part time does not matter much to me at all. It is about how the land is managed and the water protected. If we can do that through supporting small farmers to maintain livestock, it is even better. At the end of the day, it...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jun 2021)

Pippa Hackett: As one of the few Senators from the midlands, I am concerned about some of the negative press the midlands receives, particularly and disappointingly from some of its own political representatives. As a progressive and pragmatic Green Party politician, I refuse to accept their destructive story that decarbonising this important region means we are losing something valuable. We are not and I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Forestry Sector (20 May 2021)

Pippa Hackett: The need for a forestry strategy was one of the recommendations made by Mr. Jim Mackinnon in his report. Mr. Mackinnon was commissioned in 2019 to examine the processes for approving afforestation proposals and the linked issues for other forestry-related operations. The development of a new forestry strategy will provide an opportunity to not only review the goals set out in the last...