Results 9,641-9,660 of 23,950 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: When farmers ring the Department, they should be able to get as much clarity as possible. Sometimes it may not be possible to bring clarity until an inspection is completed. I take on board the Deputy's point, which is important. It is significant for the affected farmers, particularly running up to Christmas and all the pressure around that. I will speak to the team further about the...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: There is a full ongoing review of the forestry sector and Project Woodland is in place to implement the findings of the Mackinnon report. There may be recommendations arising from that and currently a number of working groups are in place assessing the best way forward. The overall review will also affect how we go forward. We will be informed by that work and we are really determined to...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Deputy knows, the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, is leading the forestry element and driving this very strongly. We have established Project Woodland to implement the findings of the Mackinnon report. In that there are three work streams with project teams to drive the implementation of the report. I do not have the up-to-date note on the implementation across each of the...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I totally agree. I spent four and a half hours last Wednesday with all of the national presidents of the farm organisations and some of their key officers, along with all of the members of my own team. I did a full four and a half hour session on CAP and climate change, dealing with these issues and where we are at the moment. I also made it very clear in terms of how we step forward that,...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: There is no doubt there is a real challenge given that, in the first number of years after trees are planted, the carbon sequestration is low because they are so small.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes. It does take time but it then gathers pace as the years go on. That is why, in the climate action plan, we have looked, for example, at the balancing out of the sequestration potential between this decade and the next decade, so credit for plantations that happen this decade can be based on what it will average out at over the 2020s and 2030s. That is important because it further...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: On the previous point, to which Ms Chapman was responding, under-expenditure in certain schemes makes the task of producing Revised Estimates important. We try to profile as much as we can within the year to reallocate and manage the process. We are examining various options that can support farmers with finance and reduced interest rates. Ms Chapman might have something on specific on that.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Does the Deputy mean in terms of solar energy? Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice:Solar and other systems. The Taoiseach was in Ballinasloe looking at a new idea by Easyfix to reduce methane emissions from slurry tanks. Is the Department considering innovative ideas so that if it has money left over, there could be a quick win and quick hit?

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I was at Easyfix also. It is a really innovative company that is bringing technology and research to bear on housing materials and investigating how they can be most effectively used. As the Deputy knows, in the recent budget I increased the solar energy allocation under TAMS for next year to 60%. An important component will be the feed-in tariff. We expect to have it in place early next...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice. I appreciate his comments on CAP. On making sure we get veterinary prescribing right, there is a difficult challenge but it is one that we have to get right. We must ensure there is common sense. We cannot continue to have circumstances in which everybody is the leading expert on medicines and anthelmintics in his or her own world because the matter is not as...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I accept that and agree. We hope to bring proposals forward on that.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: There is no doubt that the licensing challenge in the Department has been a drag on progress in relation to afforestation and felling over the last year or two. We have been making progress and it is an improving situation, thankfully. We are in a different situation compared to this time last year, when we faced an increasingly challenging and disimproving situation in terms of supply....

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I will take the Deputy's final point first. On the €5 million allocated to the Marine Institute for data collection, we are reallocating some of the unspent funds from other sections to rectify what could be called an anomaly, or the situation whereby it was previously paid a year retrospectively. We are using that €5 million to bring it into line to ensure that it is paid in...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Obviously, we are looking at the potential for agroforestry to produce more native woodland and to incorporate it more into certain parts of the farm, so that it is not perceived that farmers have to plant on the whole farm or on big plots of land, but that they can take a hectare here or an acre there and incorporate it into the identity and make-up of the farm. We want it to be seen as a...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I will first deal with the ash dieback. I take the valid point the Chairman is making and it is a matter that the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, and I have discussed and we are reflecting on it. It has been devastating for the farmers affected. As the Chairman will know, a scheme was introduced in March 2013. To date, the uptake has been low. Earlier this year, €7 million was...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: To touch on the beef exceptional aid measure scheme question, I will give the figures. Overall, 33,000 farmers applied in the first instance. Of these, 18,700 have exited the scheme clear, having met the 5% reduction. Out of the 33,000 farmers, 18,700 are out the gap and are paid. They will keep that payment. Approximately 10,700 participants deferred and are still in deferment period....

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (23 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: It is a fair point. With regard to designated land, I take the point the Chair has made. He knows where it is at. We will consider the point further as part of the review. There are no plans to change it.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Industry (18 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy will be aware of the commitment in the Programme for Government to establish a new office of National Food Ombudsman, or equivalent, which will enforce the Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) Directive and will also have a role in analysing and reporting on price and market data in Ireland. The establishment of such an Office requires primary legislation. I am happy to advise the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (18 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: An application for the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS – Ash Dieback) was received on behalf of the person named and acknowledged in December 2020. An initial letter was issued to the applicant and his Registered Forester in January seeking a harvest plan as the intention was to essentially clear fell and replant the site. A response to this request was received in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (18 Nov 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 348 and 352 together. This is an operational fisheries control matter and such matters are exclusively ones that come within the remit of the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA). Under the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act, 2006, all operational issues of this nature are exclusively for the SFPA and the Naval Service. As Minister, I am...