Results 8,901-8,920 of 23,950 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

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: No. It is less than what it was projected to be back in 2016 and 2017. What was projected at that stage was potentially up to €25 million. That was then subject to demand, so I think the level of uptake was €16 million or €17 million. As with all the other schemes that are in place and the outgoing CAP, until we have entered the new CAP in 2023, the only option...

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: There were 505 afforestation licences-----

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.

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, that is what is indicated by what the Deputy has there. I was working from memory of a briefing I had in the last couple of days, which was to the effect that the 550 licences amounted to just over 8,000 ha. That table clearly indicates the figures the Deputy has given.

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. The 8,000 ha is our target. Our plan for 2022 is to double the number of afforestation licences issued. At the start of the year, given our level of ambition, we are profiling the level of funding that would meet that ambition. As the year evolves, we will closely monitor and, depending on the drawdown, adjust it.

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: Okay. The Deputy is correct on those figures. Do we have an answer as to that €28 million difference in the output targets for 2021 and 2022? We will check that. The 2020 outturn is the same as the 2022 output target. 2021 was the first year of the new seven-year programme; 2022 will be the second year of it. There was an adjustment in the basic payment-----

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 do not think so. It is basic payments and greening so there would be a slight reduction in overall Pillar 1 as we move from the previous seven-year period, which ran from 2014 to the end of 2020. There was a small 1% to 2% drop in Pillar 1 payments at the start of 2021. That will stay constant until the start of 2027. Pilar 2 went up but Pillar 1 dropped slightly. That adjustment...

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: Great progress has been made in the last two, three or four years on the uptake of LESS. We have 3,500 LESS spreaders and machines in the country and there has been about €100 million of drawdown from TAMS to support that. I take the point the Deputy is making. From my recollection, under the CAP there is a restriction on business or contractors being able to avail of it as opposed...

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 will look at it further. I understand where the Deputy is coming from. We have to push on and try to assist that transition. The Deputy is right that much of the slurry will be spread by contractors. They will play an important role and we want as much use of LESS as possible because it makes financial sense from a farmer's point of view every year, this year more than ever. It makes...

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: Will the Deputy repeat what he said on the-----

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: It was a projection at the outset on the expected level of demand. What we are now projecting for next year is representative of what we feel is likely to be the demand. For the number of consignments of live animals and products inspected at border inspection posts, 75,000 is projected for next year. We had projected for last year that it might be up to 500,000. It has been less than...

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: We have been working hard to try to improve the uptake of organics and the appetite has been increasing among farmers for the organic scheme. In terms of the next CAP programme, we have increased the funding for organics fivefold. It is something we intend to drive on very significantly at Government level and to make real progress on over the next years. The message I have for many...

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 confidence that we will reach it, if not necessarily this year. We need to do everything we can to get there. It is very important for our climate change targets, for farmers’ income diversification and for providing raw materials to displace other more carbon intensive materials, for example, in the building industry. We will get there and we have to drive on as hard as we...

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: Is that for total seafood sales?

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 figure for 2020 is just under €1 billion. The figure for 2019 is slightly higher but I do not have it to hand. The financial provision we are providing in the Estimates this year as an investment in the seafood sector is significantly higher across most programmes, whether capital or current.

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 echo the expressions of condolences. Former Deputy Noel Treacy was a very fine public representative and man. He was a former Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food. I pass on my condolences to all of his family and the family of the late Mrs. Kitt.

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, Brexit has been a key driver of many of the transport controls. To which specific controls is the Deputy referring?

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, Brexit is the reason. Since Brexit, there has been a significant increase in demand for a number of certifications, health certifications and phytosanitary controls. When we put together the 2020 output target we worked off estimates of what the impacts from Brexit might be. We have a much better line of sight now, having gone through a year of the post-Brexit situation, of actual...

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: It does. We have import requirements under which certification is required for goods coming into the EU. We must manage those at our border entry points. The other challenge is when certification in respect of exports to the UK will commence. Two or three times in 2021, deadlines that had been set were then moved out. They have moved out again into this year. Our figures are based on...

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, we do. We have put a lot of preparation into being ready for that. There has been significant engagement with food business operators on what their needs will be and in trying to give line of sight of the arrangements that will be in place when the new import controls come in. We have had time to reassign staff because of the delays and there are other staff who would be in a position...