Results 8,781-8,800 of 23,950 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I am a strong supporter of generational renewal and the need to support young farmers as way of ensuring we have the best and brightest enter the sector. The challenge of generational renewal is widely recognised both at national and EU level with the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) citing it as one of its nine key objectives. Food Vision 2030, the new stakeholder-led strategy...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: My Department tracks and reports on prices for commodities on the basis of current price reporting legislation. Bonuses paid by processors for meeting sustainability or any other commercially agreed criteria are not recorded by my Department as they are outside of the scope of the Department’s data collection and reporting remit. However, depending on the sector, there may be...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I established a Seafood Sector Task Force in March 2021 to examine the impacts on our fishing sector and coastal communities of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom and to make recommendations to me on initiatives that could be taken to provide supports for development and restructuring so as to ensure a profitable and sustainable fishing fleet...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Agricultural Policy (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Deputy will be aware, Ireland's draft CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) for the period 2023-2027 was submitted to the European Commission on 31st December 2021. I am pleased to say that we were one of eighteen Member States to meet the regulatory deadline for submission of 1st January 2022. A copy of the draft CSP was shared last week with the CAP Stakeholder Consultative Committee, and was...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Agricultural Policy (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The planting of trees has the potential to play a significant part in our environmental priorities especially water quality, biodiversity and climate. As outlined in the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) tree planting actions have been included in both Pillar 1 and Pillar 2. The new Eco-Scheme (Pillar 1) includes a tree planting option as part of the menu of options that farmers can choose from. ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Programme for Government (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine only permits animals to be transported in compliance with the EU's animal welfare legislation, and Ireland's own national legislation regulating animal welfare in dedicated livestock vessels, which lays down more stringent controls that go beyond those in EU rules. Within the past two years, my Department has further enhanced the controls...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As I advised the Deputy in October 2021, in December 2018, the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine announced that vessels over 18 metres length overall would be excluded from trawling in inshore waters inside six nautical mile zone from 1st January 2020. A transition period of three years for vessels over 18 metres length overall targeting sprat was allowed to enable adjustment...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Trade Promotion (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Continuing to develop market opportunities at home and abroad for Irish agri-food businesses is a key goal of Food Vision 2030, which identified specific actions to support the diversification and development of export markets. To support the achievement of those objectives, Bord Bia received a significant allocation of €53m in Budget 2022. This funding will enable Bord Bia to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Safety (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Deputy may be aware, in order to highlight the importance of farm safety, the Government assigned my ministerial colleague, Martin Heydon, TD specific responsibility for Farm Safety as part of his ministerial portfolio. My Department currently has a range of measures in place to incentivise and promote farm safety including capital support under the TAMS scheme for safety measures on...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Diseases (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: One of my key priorities is reducing the TB rates across the country. We are starting to see positive trends in this space with the work of the TB Forum and its working groups implementing the new TB Strategy which I launched in 2020. Vaccination of badgers has not yet been incorporated into the eradication programme in West Wicklow as the disease situation in the area is not yet...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Responsibility for safety at sea is the responsibility of the Department of Transport and from a fisheries perspective, this matter was primarily a safety matter. That Department issued an advisory Marine Notice in relation to these exercises and I asked my Department to circulate the Marine Notice to fisheries contacts in other Member States. Officials from my Department assisted in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Where farmers participating in any of my Department’s schemes experience issues such as significant ill health or other exceptional circumstances, I would urge them to contact my Department at the earliest possible opportunity to outline their position and to discuss what options might be available to them. The Terms and Conditions of the Sheep Welfare Scheme allow for the submission...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I am acutely aware of the impact rising input costs has on farmers, their families and businesses. The very significant rise in fertiliser prices in the last year and particularly in recent months is particularly concerning. There are a number of factors at play in the market including energy prices which remain well above January 2021 levels. Increased global demand particularly from...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticulture Sector (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: On 17th January, my Department, in conjunction with the Departments of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), and Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Housing) published a working paper that sets out a series of actions to support the horticultural growers who are dependent on peat as a growing medium. The commissioning of an independent expert to work with all peat suppliers to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Trade Promotion (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Continuing to develop market opportunities at home and abroad for Irish agri-food businesses is a key goal of Food Vision 2030, which identified specific actions to support the diversification and development of export markets. To support the achievement of those objectives, Bord Bia received a significant allocation of €53m in Budget 2022. This funding will enable Bord Bia to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: While slaughter levels were slightly down for both beef and sheep in 2021, prices were significantly up on the previous year. Both sectors also saw an increase in the value of exports. For beef, the total annual slaughter figure at the end of 2021 was 1.66 million head which represents a 5% decrease on 2020 levels of 1.75 million head. This was in line with the projection of tightening...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Harbours and Piers (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: On 25th January I launched a new €35m scheme exclusively for the rejuvenation of Local Authority owned public piers and harbours. The scheme flows from a recommendation from the Seafood Taskforce which I set up last year to examine how to address the impacts arising on the seafood sector from the EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). In keeping with the Taskforce...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Farm Safety (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: My Department has a range of measures in place to raise awareness of farm safety. These include capital support to make farms safer and support for education and awareness. Some of the measures are as follows: Under the suite of seven TAMS measures, there is a wide range of farm safety related investments available to be grant-aided, with ‘Health and Safety’ guidelines...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The pilot Soil Sampling and Analysis Programme is a substantial, innovative and very ambitious programme. Such comprehensive analysis at this scale has never been undertaken in Ireland before. A contract was signed with an external service provider on the 19th October with sampling of farms commencing in November and due to continue over the winter and spring months, concluding towards the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Foreshore Issues (10 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: My Department issued 4,050 forestry licences last year, which is an increase of 56% on the number issued in 2020. In terms of the categories of each type of licence issued, these approvals included 2,877 felling licences. Critically, the availability of this volume of timber, at nearly 8.5 million cubic metres, stabilised supply to the processing sector in 2021. This is the highest...