Results 7,021-7,040 of 11,413 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Breeding (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: 242. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the oversight his Department has of the foal levy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13186/22]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: 243. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount of funding provided to the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland for loans that could be availed of by farmers to date; the amount of credit loaned; the amount of repayments received by year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13188/22]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Waste (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: 244. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his proposals to reduce the amount of waste associated with food packaging and food waste; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13189/22]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: I thank the witnesses for their very interesting presentations. I must admit that, like Senator Paul Daly, I am not clear on how it all works. I wish to have a few points clarified for my own understanding. Under the ECJ ruling, GMO products are largely banned across the EU but there are some exceptions, of which Spain is the most notable. Where does CRISPR fit in? Is the ruling of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: I am sorry to interrupt Dr. McLoughlin but for clarification, are Spain and Portugal operating under a derogation or do those particular GMO products have a licence?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: They are licensed across the EU. It just happens that they are the countries that use it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: Going back to my original question, is the CRISPR technology being used anywhere in the EU at present?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: The great anomaly with GMO products is that goods produced from practices and products that are banned in the EU are permitted to be imported, which is an inherently unfair system.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: If we are going to ban a practice, we should ban the importation of products for which the practice is used as well. Otherwise, we are putting the likes of our grain growers at a distinct disadvantage. Then, when there is an emergency, we ask why we do not have more of them. That issue needs to be addressed. In terms of CRISPR technology, does the EU also allow the importation of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: To mask my ignorance and for the layperson in the audience at home, I want to ask a question that has already been asked. What is the biggest distinction between GMO and CRISPR in terms of the specifics? I understood that one technique involved two different organisms, but Dr. McLoughlin is saying that CRISPR could also use two organisms. What is the biggest distinction in terms of process...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: How does that work in practice? How is that done?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: To be quite honest, it is at times like this that I wish I had paid more attention in biology class. In fairness, Dr. Badmi makes is sound very simple. It is just that I am not fully sure if it has sunk in yet.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: I get that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: Perhaps Dr. Harrison wants to come in on this. The obvious concern, which is the one that is raised most often, both in terms of the older GMO technology, as it has been described, but it will apply equally here, is that changes made to one crop might have an unforeseen implication either for other crops, biodiversity, climate or something else. There could be some knock-on consequence for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: One of the main arguments traditionally made against GMO relates to corporate influences, as Dr. Doyle Prestwich mentioned in her opening remarks. We have all heard stories of the power of companies such as Monsanto and the control they have over farmers in particular. Farmers are penalised for seed leakage, for example, and there is a significant level of control whereby farmers and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: I thank our guests for being here. I thank Mr. Deegan for his opening statement. I have a couple of questions on it. I am trying to get my head around where the Department and the Government currently stand. He mentioned the Government decision in respect of GMOs, whereby Ireland's voting stance has moved from abstention to voting against the cultivation of GMO. Leaving aside the ECJ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: A better way of putting it is to ask whether, prior to the ECJ ruling, it was the Irish position that NGTs were incorporated in our stance on GMOs?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: Before Ms Fleming comes in, Mr. Deegan mentioned in his opening statement that several member states have expressed a desire to amend EU legislation to facilitate the registration of NGTs for possible cultivation and use in the EU. Is Ireland one of those states?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: Discussion (9 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: I am not sure whether Mr. Deegan answered my question on whether Ireland was one of the states that has expressed a desire to amend EU legislation.