Results 9,561-9,580 of 23,967 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2016: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Until 2020, no such fund was in place. Significant progress has been made on this matter. Plans are afoot to expand the scheme. Under the care fund, a range of care and welfare initiatives were introduced, including incentivising the rehoming of greyhounds through additional supports provided by the Irish Retired Greyhound Trust. Financial supports are also provided by rehoming agencies....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2016: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Does Ms Ball know the answer to that question? We will check that and revert to the Deputy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2016: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Dr. Smyth might take that question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2016: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Individual local authorities play a role with respect to animal welfare where horses are found abandoned. In the vast majority of such cases, the horses will not be microchipped. If they were, there would be a capacity to identify the responsible owner.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Chairman for the invitation to speak to the committee on the nitrates directive and Ireland's forthcoming 2022 nitrates action programme. In addition to Mr. Nolan, I am joined by Dr. Kevin Smyth, assistant secretary. It is important to highlight in the first instance that the regulations governing the nitrates action programme are the responsibility of my colleague, the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy for his very good question. As a Minister, you have to be a Jack of all trades but not necessarily a master of all.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Thankfully, within the Department there are people who are top of this detail and who serve this sector well. Mr. Jack Nolan, who is with me today, is the Department's lead on the nitrates action programme. I will ask him to come in on the Deputy's questions and the detail he is seeking.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I believe it is possible and compatible to have the nitrates derogation and improvements in water quality. The objective behind putting in place stringent criteria and conditions in the awarding of the derogation to any one farmer is to ensure farmers apply the additional nitrogen and achieve a higher stocking rate in a way that effectively manages that nutrient and that resource so that it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank Deputy Leddin. I will ask Mr. Nolan to come in in a second again. I reiterate what I said. In terms of all farming types and all farming practices right across the sector, we have to be determined to ensure that water quality is central to what we do, to ensure that it improves over the time ahead and to ensure that from an agricultural point of view our practice does not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I will let Mr. Nolan come in.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I must check the detail on this but my recollection is that there is a restriction in CAP on who can be funded from TAMS. I think it has to be farmers but I will check that. There has been a massive and welcome uptake in the past three or four years of low emission slurry spreading under TAMS. About €100 million has been spent on it through the Department through the TAMS grant....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I will be bringing in more measures under the eco schemes in Pillar 1. The feedback has come back strongest around the country -----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I do, yes. A CAP consultative committee meeting will be held tomorrow at which we will discuss the options and additional options that we have in mind with all the key stakeholders. I will wait until then out of respect to the role carried out by the consultative committee, which is very important in terms of informing, assessing and feeding back the ideas of stakeholders on what is on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: We do not have any particular requirement for when the seed is sown. It is something we want to encourage in the context of the next CAP because there is real potential in it from a financial point of view. I will ask Mr. Nolan to comment more on how it can be accounted for in schemes and how additional costs involved in one particular type of sward over another can be paid for. From an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I have asked the team to ensure that in every way possible we are putting schemes in place that are flexible in that regard and, furthermore, that everywhere we can we are encouraging, incentivising and facilitating people to plant trees and forestry, that it all adds up and that there are no perverse disincentives or blockages. We have to work within the confines of the overall EU...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I accept the Deputy's point. We are looking at that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: As Mr. Nolan pointed out, we cannot grant aid somebody to get into compliance, if that person is not compliant. Where something becomes a requirement for a particular farm, the farmer cannot receive grant aid for it. That is why it is important that we give lead-in times and notice of what is coming down the tracks and an adjustment period. That was done in the context of the low-emission...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Deputy. I will hand over to Mr. Nolan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: We are looking at solutions in respect of that issue. It is important that we do so. We have different options under consideration and hope to be able to bring clarity to that in the near future.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: There is a real role for anaerobic digestion. It is something we need to progress. I have secured funding for it under the national development plan in terms of capital investment to support pilot initiatives in this area. It is a far more expensive way of producing energy than other renewable alternatives, but it has the benefit of feeding into the circular economy and making use of...