Results 8,301-8,320 of 23,950 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report Stage (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: A lot more detail is required, which will follow through from the regulation and subsequently to the forestry scheme that will be put in place to enable this. The Bill provides the platform to enable that to happen. It also sets key principles that will inform the regulation and the scheme. The points the Senator has raised are points that can be accommodated and considered further. There...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report Stage (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The list of trees in the legislation is the list. If Senator Higgins was writing the legislation, she might have missed a couple because she did not include them in the amendment.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report Stage (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Okay. Overall, the thrust of some of her previous arguments is that we should be particularly prescriptive in the legislation lest some pesky Minister in the future might wreak havoc and do things via the legislation that we would not have intended. What she is saying now is the reverse, namely, that there should be more flexibility in addition to what is in the primary legislation in order...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report Stage (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: It is in the primary legislation. Regarding the amendment the Senator has tabled, which is to insert the native Irish pine, the Burren pine, I understand that the reference relates to the small population of Scots pines in Rockforest, County Clare, which are said to be derived from the original native Scots pine trees. While people refer to these trees as native Irish or Burren pine, these...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report Stage (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I am under a little time pressure because I have to be in the Dáil. I thank Senator Pauline O'Reilly for being brief in her final comments. I thank the Senators for their contributions throughout the various Stages of the Bill. There are a lot of good things in it. It is very positive to see the 1 ha initiative. I commend the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, on her role in that....

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Carcase Disposal (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Domestic animal cremation is typically carried out in low-capacity incineration facilities and seven such incinerators are currently approved by my Department. Deceased pets are classified in law as animal by-products. Plants carrying out low-capacity incineration of animal by-products are approved and supervised by my Department in accordance with the EU Animal By-Products Regulations...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Special Areas of Conservation (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Natura is made up of Special Protection Areas (SPAs), established under the EU Birds Directive (79/409/EEC), and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), established under the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). Responsibility for Natura lies with the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) in Ireland. Natura agricultural lands form a significant part of the overall eligible agricultural area...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Costs (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 832 and 866 together. It is important to set out at the outset that Ireland does not manufacture fertiliser and is consequently dependent on the international marketplace for fertilisers, subsequently blended by Irish companies. There is ongoing engagement between my Department and the fertiliser sector in Ireland. Fertiliser companies provide sales data...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Costs (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I announced a package of measures last week worth over €12 million to support Irish farmers as part of the Government's response to the cost increases and challenges currently facing the sector. To reduce reliance on chemical nitrogen, this package includes support for farmers who wish to establish multi-species swards and/or red clover silage swards. The Multi-Species Swards...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Grant aid is provided through TAMS II to assist farmers in maximising their contribution to the production of renewable energy through the installation of Solar PV technology along with battery storage on Irish farms. The solar PV systems grant aided under TAMS includes Solar PV Panels and Solar PV Rechargeable Batteries. Currently all grant aid for TAMS II investments must be for on...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pigmeat Sector (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Bord Bia Pigmeat Quality Assurance Scheme (PQAS) sets out the requirements for best practice in pig production at farm level. It provides a uniform mechanism for recording and monitoring pig quality assurance criteria on the farm with a view to achieving continuous improvement in production and a uniform mechanism for standards. The Scheme is accredited under ISO17065. The Bord Bia...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Forestry Programme 2014-2020 (extended to end of 2022) introduced Agroforestry as a Grant and Premium Category under the Afforestation Scheme. Agroforestry had not previously featured in Ireland’s forestry support schemes and the measure is mainly targeted at silvopastoral Agroforestry systems which combine forestry and pasture, including grazing and the growing of fodder. The...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Department makes available various forestry statistics on its website, particularly the Forestry Divisional Monthly Reports, which may be found here gov.ie - gov.ie - Forestry Division Monthly Reports (www.gov.ie) The table below shows the applications received in hectares from 2014 to 2021. Year Hectares of Afforestation applications received 2014 ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Deputy is likely to be aware, delays in issuing forestry licences arose because of certain court judgements and their interpretation which resulted in the majority of cases becoming subject to Appropriate Assessment and therefore requiring ecological input. This was particularly impactful on afforestation licences as afforestation is a land-use change and those files are more...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: There are a variety of reasons why there has been a gradual decline in afforestation rates even before this current Forestry Programme has started in 2015 and my Department is very conscious of the afforestation targets set out in the Climate Action Plan. During the last number of years, my Department has been addressing several barriers which contributed to decreasing afforestation...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Department publishes the weekly dashboard at www.gov.ie/en/collection/15b56-forest-statistics-and-mapping /#forestry-weekly-dashboard. The aim of the dashboard is to give full transparency on the number of forestry licences, across afforestation, roads and felling (broken down between Coillte and private felling), we issue every week. It also shows a useful comparison with the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Since the first finding of ash dieback disease in Ireland, my Department has provided support totalling over €7 million to owners of ash plantations impacted by ash dieback disease through the ash dieback reconstitution scheme (introduced in 2013) and more recently the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS – Ash dieback) introduced in July 2020. Applications for that...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy raises an important greenhouse gas abatement measure for the agricultural sector. Protected urea is a urea-based chemical nitrogen fertiliser coated with a urease inhibitor. This inhibitor reduces emissions of ammonia when applied to land. Urea based fertilisers have significantly less nitrous oxide emissions (a greenhouse gas (GHG)) associated with them compared to Calcium...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy raises an important issue in the context of transitioning to a more long term sustainable platform for Irish agriculture. Low Emissions Slurry Technology (LESS) refers to trailing hose and band spreader slurry application technologies. The main objective for using this technology is to reduce emissions of ammonia to enable compliance with our limits under the National Emissions...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Expenditure (29 Mar 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Greenhouse Gas Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (GHG MACC) for Irish Agriculture quantifies the opportunities for abatement of agricultural greenhouse gases, as well as the associated costs/benefits and shows the abatement potential of greenhouse gas mitigation measures, and the relative costs associated with each of these measures. Teagasc is currently reviewing the GHG MACC which was last...