Results 1,161-1,180 of 5,550 for speaker:Martin Ferris

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Supplementary) (9 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: I have no problem with the submission. The Minister has explained this well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Investigations Division: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: The problem concerns unannounced inspections. In such cases, there is no application for a warrant and the investigation unit has significant powers. The process has been rubber-stamped by the Government. Most farmers want to comply with the regulations. However, let us take the example of a small farmer in the west with financial problems and living on his own who is subject to an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Investigations Division: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: Mr. Carroll still has not answered my question about people who were involved in investigations. A number of farmers were obliged to go through the courts to be vindicated. Are the people who were involved in those investigations currently members of the new group? Were they investigated individually?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Investigations Division: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: They are still at it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Investigations Division: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: Mr. Carroll referred to farmers or people who made threats against members of the SIU. Have they been brought before the courts?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Investigations Division: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: If that has happened then there is a process available. The Department can use the Garda and courts to address the matter but there is very little process for the other side only for the few farmers who took the case and won. My main question concerned the investigators involved in the cases where farmers took the case to court and were vindicated. Are they still part of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Investigations Division: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (9 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: I thank Mr. Carroll for his presentation. Deputy Ó Cuív has outlined many of the concerns relating to investigations carried out by the SIU that ended up before the courts, which cleared and exonerated the farmers involved. Are the members of the SIU that were involved in those cases currently members of the new group? Will they be part of the Department's investigation team?...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Single Payment Scheme Expenditure (9 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: 226. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way he plans to spend the €27 million of reimbursement, in accordance with Article 26(5) of Regulation (EU) No. 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and Council, of the appropriations carried over from financial year 2014. [47046/14]

Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (4 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: There is so much wrong with charging people for water that it is hard to choose a specific issue to raise here. Water is a basic human right, but it is an indication of the mindset of the Government that it is regarded as fair game for boosting income to pay out to banks, such as the payment we heard announced yesterday when the Minister for Finance indicated that Anglo Irish Bank...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Rebates (4 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: 71. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 50 of 8 October 2014, if he will provide the information. [46618/14]

Health Services: Motion [Private Members] (2 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: There is an effort by the Government to pretend that the appointment of Deputy Leo Varadkar as Minister for Health will somehow wipe the slate clean of the damage already done by it to the health service. This plan is part of that spin, but, in fact, we can see that some of the measures announced as part of the new national service plan were already announced and that the plan for 2015 is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries Sustainability Impact Assessment: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: The Minister's record is only-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries Sustainability Impact Assessment: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: From all Irish boats?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries Sustainability Impact Assessment: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: I take it the Minister does not accept these proposals and is going out there to try and ensure that-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries Sustainability Impact Assessment: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: There are three Deputies present from two main parties and none of them gives a goddamn about our coastal communities. That is the sad part about it. If it was anything to do with agriculture the place would be full and the Deputies would be sitting up there at the front trying to get in. I just hope the Minister is not accepting this and I hope he plays hard ball with these people.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries Sustainability Impact Assessment: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: No, the Minister has not come to it yet. The potential damage to the fishing sector if all these policies are implemented would have a huge social and economic effect on coastal communities, as the Minister mentioned. It would be devastating for many. I make it €89 million if one takes the Hague preferences plus the others. I hope the Minister can-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries Sustainability Impact Assessment: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: We are talking about €70 million in any event. The Minister is also talking about the loss of 500, 600 or 700 jobs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sea-Fisheries Sustainability Impact Assessment: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: It would be a disaster to implement this in full. The social consequences for our coastal communities, as the Minister is well aware, and as all of us from coastal areas are aware, will be significant. It is up to the Minister's negotiators to try to break the Commission's proposals down. We have all argued that the biggest problem for Irish fishermen, particularly those depending on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forthcoming Agriculture and Fisheries Council: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (2 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: I thank the Minister for his presentation. I have one question on fisheries. The Minister said he had a meeting with the stakeholders on Wednesday, 26 November. Could we have an update on how the meeting went, if possible? The Minister mentioned mixed organic and conventional farming, recourse to non-organic seed and breeding animals and the control regime. Could he elaborate on that?...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fish Quotas (2 Dec 2014)

Martin Ferris: 275. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide details of the State's mackerel quota in tabular form for the years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014. [46060/14]