Results 7,321-7,340 of 10,843 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Management of Social Welfare Appeals
Chapter 11 - Controls Over the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: I thank Mr. McKeon.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Management of Social Welfare Appeals
Chapter 11 - Controls Over the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: I have a brief question about the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, as well as on the various media reports we have seen over recent months that there may have been a capacity for high levels of fraudulent claims or inaccurate claims. Could Mr. McKeon briefly outline the measures his Department employed to provide reassurance in those areas and to recoup any money that was incorrectly paid?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: This is a point of particular interest as it relates to contracts pertaining to direct provision that were transferred from the Department of Justice to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. According to the Secretary General, Mr. Fergal Lynch, the previous Department, namely, the Department of Justice, had a view that the contracts were competitive and not...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: That was helpful. It is something we need to keep an eye on into the future.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: That is agreed.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: This might be described as taking liberties but I have to go to the Dáil Chamber for a debate and might not get back here before we finish dealing with the work programme. We had a hearing with representatives of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications at which we discussed the national broadband plan, among other issues. With respect to the national broadband...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: My request is that we try to have the meeting as quickly as possible if earlier time slots become available.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Industry (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: One of the great travesties of Irish farming, particularly when we are talking about climate action, is that those farms which are richest in biodiversity, which are doing most on carbon sequestration and which are causing least pollution are also the least profitable farms in the State. We need to ensure we do not repeat our mistakes. I have lost count of the number of people who have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Industry (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: 3. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he plans to provide for an audit of the carbon storage and capture of each farm in the State in order to allow farmers to be rewarded for good practice and improvements into the future. [60437/21]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Industry (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: There has been much talk about the role of agriculture in respect of our climate action targets. The most common question farmers ask is what this will mean for them. It would be useful if it were possible to carry out a full audit of the carbon storage and capture that is taking place on every farm in order to reward farmers who are involved in good practices and to encourage others to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Agriculture Industry (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine held a number of informative hearings on these issues because it is an area in which we all will admit that we are still learning. I asked this specific question regarding the baseline studies as to whether it is possible to carry out a farm-by-farm analysis and audit so each farmer would have a clear view of what sequestration, storage...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Food Industry (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: 1. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when he will introduce legislation to establish an enforcement authority as per the unfair trading practices Directive; if the legislation will provide for a meat regulator; and the powers that will be within the remit of the authority.. [60436/21]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Food Industry (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: When does the Minister intend to bring forward the long-promised legislation to create an enforcement authority, a food ombudsman or a meat regulator, as I would prefer, as per the unfair trading practices directive? Does he have a sense of the powers he intends to confer on that authority?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Food Industry (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: The unfair trading practices legislation and the issue we referred to has been listed in the legislative agenda of the autumn, the spring, the summer and the autumn again, but it does not seem to have been prioritised to the same extent as other legislation that was announced much later but delivered much sooner. In May, in response to a question, the Minister told us the legislation would...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Food Industry (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: It would be useful if the Minister could elaborate on the work that enforcement authority is doing. In May, the unit had three full-time equivalent posts, filled by four staff. Progress was being made on appointing a head of unit but by September and through October, it had only two full-time equivalent staff, again with the promise of a head of unit. It has not received, as far as I am...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: 18. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the new measures in his proposed CAP strategic plan that will specifically support young farmers; and the intended mechanism within or without the plan to support the group of young farmers known as the forgotten farmers. [60431/21]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Organic Farming (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: 32. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to meet organic conversion targets; and the estimated number of farmers and new hectares that he expects to enter organics in 2022. [60428/21]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Diseases (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: 39. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will ensure that all poultry farmers who cull flocks in response to outbreaks of avian influenza in 2021 and 2022 receive compensation in a timely manner. [60430/21]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: 60. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated number of hectares of new afforestation in 2021; and his targets for licences for afforestation and felling in 2022. [60427/21]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (9 Dec 2021)

Matt Carthy: 66. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to support producers of hemp in the State. [60429/21]