Results 9,981-10,000 of 23,950 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (21 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I am very aware of the contribution of the beef sector to Irish agri-food as a whole, supporting significant levels of direct employment as well as their role in supporting rural economies and the wider national economy.  It is a sector that I support and will continue to support into the future. The Department continues to prioritise supporting the sustainable development of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (21 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act will support Ireland’s transition to Net Zero and achieve a climate neutral economy by no later than 2050. The Act commits our economy to an ambitious and challenging 51% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 with specific regards to the special economic and social role of agriculture, including regarding the distinct...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (21 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I am very conscious of the important role that the sheep sector plays in the continued growth and development of our agri-food sector, and its valuable contribution to the rural economy. The strong performance of the sector in 2020 has continued into 2021 and I am delighted that farmers are being rewarded from the market for their hard work. Reductions in production globally and...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (21 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The pigmeat sector has shown remarkable growth in recent years, over the last decade exports have grown substantially from a base of €330 million export value in 2010 to €893 million in 2020, a 170% increase. Over 87,000 tonnes of pigmeat exports valued at over €406 million were exported to the UK in 2020. This represents almost 45.5% of total export value for the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (21 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: As a value-for-money source of protein-rich food, poultrymeat has seen an increase in demand in recent years. Irish production hit record levels in 2020, with a grand total of 111 million birds slaughtered (92% of which were chickens) in Department approved establishments. Currently 2021 is trending in a positive direction, with slaughter up 2.6%  on the same period in 2020 with...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticulture Sector (21 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: In 2020 the farmgate value of the mushroom industry was valued at over €123 million, producing over 69,000 tonnes of mushrooms. Mushrooms have the highest farmgate value across all the other different sectors of both edible and non-edible horticulture in Ireland. Markets for mushrooms produced in Ireland have remained positive thus far into 2021 and added value has been gained by...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (21 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: While Ireland is internationally recognised as having one of the most carbon efficient systems of dairy and beef production in the EU, there is huge variability in carbon efficiency within the country. The Teagasc Sustainability Survey shows that the top performing third of farms emitted, on average, 9.6 kg CO2 equivalent per kg beef, compared with 14.9 kg for the bottom performing third of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (21 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I am very aware of the contribution of the meat and dairy sectors to Irish agri-food as a whole, supporting significant levels of direct employment as well as their role in supporting rural economies and the wider national economy.  The Department and I continue to prioritise supporting the sustainable development of these sectors including through targeted supports aimed at...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Contracts (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I wish to advise the Deputy that neither myself nor officials from my Department held meetings or conducted correspondence with a company (details supplied) from 1 January 2017 to date, nor did my Department engage the services of the company for any purpose during the years in question.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The Forestry Programme 2014-2020 (extended to end 2022) provides significant supports for afforestation scheme which contains measures aimed at protecting the environment and biodiversity. All forestry licences issued must comply with the requirements of EU and national environmental law, environmental policy that falls within the scope of EU law, and the four environmental principles that...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I can confirm that both myself and Minister of State Pippa Hackett have held meetings with bank officials in relation to forestry. Minister Hackett met with officials from Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank and AIB in September 2020 and discussed, inter alia, cashflow for operators within the forestry sector. I met with the CEO of AIB in October 2020 and the CEOs of Bank of Ireland and...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The Department assesses all forestry licence and scheme applications on their own merits and in combination with other plans and projects in the area.  The Deputy is aware of the backlog of forestry licences awaiting assessment and that the majority of these are referred to ecology. Circular 08/2021 published last June, set out the work the Department had conducted to streamline the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: A consultation on the draft interventions of the CAP Strategic Plan which was conducted in August and September this year has been met with a lot of interest and the Department has received many submissions in response which are currently being examined. Forest Industries Ireland (FII) made a submission containing proposals on the further integration of tree and forest planting initiatives....

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy will be aware of certain Court of Justice of the European Union decisions and their subsequent application in the High Court and other appeals bodies, pertaining to the environmental assessment of planning applications. Forestry licences, that is afforestation, forest road works, aerial fertilisation and tree felling licences are considered planning applications. Therefore, the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Staff (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 296 and 297 together. There are three Divisions within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine dealing with forestry matters – Forestry Policy Division, Forestry Inspectorate Division and Forest Sector Development Division. The first is led by a Principal Officer and the other two are led by Senior Inspectors. The three divisions report to...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Circulars (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 298 and 299 together. The European Union (Birds and Natural Habitats) (Amendment) Regulations, 2021, (S.I. No. 293 of 2021) were signed on 21stJune, 2021 by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. My Department was made aware of it later that week by that Department. These Regulations were signed after Circular 8/2021 issued. However, the...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Greyhound Industry (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Rásaíocht Con Éireann (RCÉ) is a commercial state body, established under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958 chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. RCÉ is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The question raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Legislative Measures (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The Programme for Government 2020 contains a commitment regarding the prohibition of fur farming and Department officials have been working on appropriate steps to give effect to this. The draft general scheme of the Prohibition on Fur Farming 2021 legislation was approved by Government at its meeting on 18th June 2021. The primary focus of the Bill is to make it illegal for any new fur farms...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Veterinary Services (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: All current suppliers of veterinary medicines will continue to be legally permitted to supply medicines post-January 2022.  The Department is actively working with all stakeholders to sustain a competitive market for the supply of these products. The ambition is to ensure Irish farmers are empowered to purchase medicines from their supplier of choice....

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Agricultural Policy (20 Oct 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The Programme for Government ‘Our Shared Future’ contains a commitment to seek to resolve the issue of support for the category of farmers known as Forgotten Farmers. The Department is examining options to address the issue of forgotten farmers. The outline of any schemes supported under the next CAP and details of the Terms and Conditions for eligibility under such schemes,...