Results 801-820 of 5,311 for speaker:Tom Hayes

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Food Safety Issues (4 Mar 2014)

Tom Hayes: That is my understanding and I can give the Senator some documentation.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Food Safety Issues (4 Mar 2014)

Tom Hayes: I will seek to have the matter clarified for the Senator.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Food Safety Issues (4 Mar 2014)

Tom Hayes: I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I hope what I am going to say will clarify the position on some of the matters to which she referred.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Food Safety Issues (4 Mar 2014)

Tom Hayes: As the Senator will be aware, my Department published a comprehensive report in March 2013 on the detailed investigation into the adulteration of beef products with equine DNA. That investigation was carried out by the Department's veterinary inspectors, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, and the Garda National Bureau of Fraud Investigation. It was initiated as a result of initial...

Post Office Network: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (26 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: That shook the Members opposite.

Post Office Network: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (26 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: We will deliver more than vodka.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Employment Support Services (26 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: The Senator has made a strong case and I will relate her concerns to the Minister.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Fish Farming (26 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: It is clear from my reply that due process has at all times been adhered to, which is most important from everybody's point of view. This is a statutory and legal process and I have no doubt that in discussions between the Taoiseach and the Minister they were well aware of that and they would not do anything that would infringe legislation or proper procedures. I will ask the Minister as...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Employment Support Services (26 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: I thank the Senator for raising the issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection, who is unavailable. She had intended to be here but she sends her apologies because she has had to stand in for the Tánaiste elsewhere. LESs are an essential component of the employment services offered by the Department to jobseekers. LES providers work closely with the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Fish Farming (26 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine who is unable to attend. I perceive aquaculture to be a crucial component of the Government's Food Harvest 2020 strategy. To expand the production of Irish organic farmed salmon, I tasked BIM to investigate the creation of new fish farming...

Seanad: Fines (Payment and Recovery) Bill 2013: Second Stage (26 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: I thank Members for their good contributions and welcome their agreement with the Bill. There were many aspects to the Bill and, although I am not the Minister for Justice and Equality, I certainly would agree with the thrust of it. I am delighted to be here to help to bring a Bill before the House. It is an issue I, personally, would have spoken about. Senator Cummins has spoken on this...

Topical Issue Debate: Single Payment Scheme Eligibility (26 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: It should be remembered at all times that Ireland receives €1.5 billion in EU aid in respect of direct payments to farmers. Farmers have become dependent on these payments to supplement their income. I accept that, as stated by Deputy McCarthy, they rely on these payments to pay their bills, etc. No farmer should, as a result of the review, be experiencing extreme hardship. It is...

Topical Issue Debate: Single Payment Scheme Eligibility (26 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: I thank Deputy Michael McCarthy for raising this important issue. I welcome the opportunity to clarify this issue, which is of significant concern to many people. Deputies are fully aware of the background to this issue and the necessity for the Department to carry out a complete review of the eligibility of the land parcels declared by farmers to benefit from aid payments under the single...

Seanad: Fines (Payment and Recovery) Bill 2013: Second Stage (26 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: As Members are aware, the Minister, Deputy Shatter, is detained by business in the other House today and has asked me to stand in for him in this debate. On his behalf, I am pleased to present the Fines (Payment and Recovery) Bill 2013. This is a very important item of reforming legislation that has at its core the twin objectives of ensuring to the greatest extent possible that the fines...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: I can have regard to the social, economic and environmental functions of forestry. By means of policy and other measures provided for in this Bill, I can seek to strike an appropriate balance between those functions, or to improve the performance of one or more of them, but I cannot "ensure" these functions or any one function is performing to the optimum. Consequently, I cannot accept the...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: As stated previously, although the terminology “good forest practice” is broad, it includes a wide range of different management practices that includes national and international good practice with regard to standards and forest policy. The amendment, as described, is catered for in the existing text. Therefore, I do not accept it.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: I understand that environmental stakeholders sought amendments to section 11 to provide more explicit references to the requirement to protect semi-natural habitats and species both inside and outside the forest and to consider the potential cumulative impact of afforestation projects, in addition to the potential impact of afforestation projects, when combined with other projects such as...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: I move amendment No. 42: In page 11, to delete lines 24 to 26 and substitute the following: "(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and be liable, on summary conviction, to a class E fine.”.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: It is a matter for discussion with the Chair of the relevant Oireachtas committee and not appropriate for inclusion in primary legislation. I would also draw the Deputy's attention to section 3, which provides that every regulation made under this Act must be laid before the Oireachtas.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Committee Stage (25 Feb 2014)

Tom Hayes: They are supposed to be laid prior to them being made.