Results 8,881-8,900 of 23,950 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Deputy Carthy and I are at one with regard to the importance of ensuring that this is accommodated in the scheme that is put in place. As with those other points I mentioned, this issue will be accommodated through policy and guidelines so it is not necessary or appropriate to put it into the primary legislation. I assure the Deputy that such matters will be fully taken into account in the...

Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank Deputies Carthy and Browne for the amendment. This is already provided for in section 9(d) of the Bill with the requirement on the Minister to provide, by regulation, for a scheme to facilitate the planting of native tree areas. It is, therefore, provided in the Bill that the Minister would do that by way of regulation. This provides that the legislation to establish a scheme must...

Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Again, I understand the point the Deputy made. I believe it is already well provided for in the legislation. As we know, I spent much time at the Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine earlier today. I have spent a lot of time talking about forestry in the agriculture committee previously, as indeed has the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, who has done Trojan work in bringing...

Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked about the 1 ha threshold. We are trying to make it as easy and as practical as possible for farmers to be able to plant up to 1 ha without a licence. Under the current legislation, the situation which has been in place for many years now, the threshold is 0.1 ha. Anything over 0.1 ha has required a licence for many years but anything under 0.1 ha has not. We...

Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank Members for their opening contributions on the first amendment to the Bill tonight. The purpose of this legislation is to prohibit fur farming in Ireland, provide for a compensation scheme for the farmers affected and introduce other miscellaneous amendments to the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. The legislation also introduces some unrelated but important amendments to the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The undertaking of this first equine census in November 2021 is one of a series of measures I am initiating to support the welfare of horses and other equidae and was one of my Department’s listed priorities for 2021. The new EU Animal Health Law obliges all keepers notify the habitual residence of equines in their care to my Department. The census facilitates keepers complying with...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fur Farming (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The Report and Final stages of the Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021 is due to be taken in the Dail today Wednesday 2nd Feb 2022.  It must then go through the Seanad.  Once the Bill has passed through the Seanad, the prohibition will be commenced as soon as possible after that.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: What specifically is the Deputy looking at?

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Travel and subsistence costs are up from €5.7 million to €8.3 million. The figure for training and development incidental expenses is up from €6.4 million to €9.1 million. That reflects the impact of Covid-19 on activity in 2021 and the expectation that there will be a return to more normal business over the course of this year. Laboratory services-----

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: For each of the programmes, A, B, C and D, there is a formula used as to how administration expenses are allocated. They are allocated on a percentage basis for each of the programmes. It is therefore not necessarily directly related to the programme; it is a reflection of the overall administration costs. For anyone who wishes to see what exactly is happening in administration and where...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes, it is, but that is a choice farmers made. Obviously-----

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I rolled over GLAS, so any farmer coming out of GLAS was able to opt to do an extension year.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes, but there is nothing more we could do to affect that other than to make it as practicable as possible for farmers to continue. We could not do a new scheme for them. It would be much more practical for those who were in GLAS, for example, to continue on GLAS and to continue with the measures they had than it would be to do a new scheme. I do not think doing a new scheme would...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: That is less of a challenge for a one-year scheme than for a five-year scheme. Farmers only had to opt to extend it for one year. The approach taken was to try to maximise the opportunity for as many farmers as possible.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Without a doubt, we did not plant as much forestry last year as we would have liked to have seen. The committee is well aware, because this is something on which it has put a very strong focus, of the challenges we had with licensing and which, over the course of the past year, we have been working our way out of. Thankfully, we are gathering momentum and making a real impact and we will...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: About 550 afforestation licences were granted.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: The actual amount planted was 2,400 ha.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: As for afforestation, every felling licence that is granted comes with a reforestation licence. Where somebody clear-fells a site, the obligation is on him or her to replant that within two years. A new afforestation licence is valid for three years. The licensee has to plant the site within three years. Last year's output of afforestation licences was not as successful as, for example,...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes. It was €25 million initially.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Charlie McConalogue: I have increased it this year. I think it is €19.5 million in 2022-----