Results 11,821-11,840 of 23,956 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (31 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The new established Advisory Council on Companion Animal Welfare, which will convene is the coming weeks, will be asked to advise on the most appropriate content and ways of educating companion animal owners about caring for their animals. The Council will explore the feasibility of extending animal welfare awareness into the broader educational system, including primary and secondary...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Harbours and Piers (31 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Howth Fishery Harbour Centre (FHC) is one of the six designated Fishery Harbour Centres which are owned, managed and maintained by my Department under Statute. The situation in Howth Harbour has been recognised as an issue for some time, and the requirement for a dredging project to restore adequate depth in the entrance channel and within the harbour is accepted. The Harbour was last dredged...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Management (31 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1284 to 1287, inclusive, together. New interim ‘Standards for Felling and Reforestation’were circulated in October 2019. These Standards immediately replaced measures relating to felling set out in the existing standards ‘Forest Harvesting & the Environment Guidelines (2000)’. The ‘Standards for Felling and...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Industry (31 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: There is no legal definition of a feedlot herd. The Department defines certain herds as Controlled Finishing Units (CFUs) in the context of the Bovine TB Eradication Programme. This definition is unique to that programme and does not necessarily mirror the use of the term "feedlot" by the public and/or other institutions. CFUs are subject to enhanced biosecurity measures as part of the TB...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Environmental Efficiency Scheme (31 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I wish to inform the Deputy that the Agriculture Appeals Office operates independently of my Department. I have been advised, however, that the records of the Agriculture Appeals Office indicate that a letter of appeal was received on behalf of the person named in December 2020. The Appeals Office wrote to the person named in relation to his appeal and the submission of further...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Communications (31 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The State recognises the right of Irish Sign Language users to use Irish Sign Language as their native language and the corresponding duties of all public bodies to provide Irish Sign Language users with free interpretation services when availing of or seeking access to statutory entitlements and services. The Irish Sign Language Act, 2017 clearly sets out the legislative responsibilities...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Commencement of Legislation (31 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The Department has overseen the drafting and enactment of nine Bills in the past 10 years. Information requested on these enactments can be found in the table below. All of the Acts have been enacted to some extent; the extent of the commencement is indicated in column three. No. Title of Enactment Sections Commenced. 1 Welfare of Greyhounds...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Veterinary Medicines (31 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: New EU Regulation 2019/6 on veterinary medicinal products comes into effect in January 2022. This Regulation is binding in full and has direct effect on all Member States, which includes Northern Ireland. Across every sector and economic activity, there are different laws and regulations that apply in Northern Ireland and Ireland. This is the case in the agricultural sector as well....

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Food Industry (31 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The Programme for Government includes a commitment to “Ensure fairness, equity and transparency in the food chain by establishing a new authority to enforce the Unfair Trading Practices Directive. It is envisaged that this authority will have a specific role in analysing and reporting on price and market data in Ireland and this will be an important step forward in transparency. It...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Expenditure (31 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: My Department ensures that there is an appropriate focus on good practice in procurement and that procedures are in place to ensure compliance with relevant guidelines and legislation. Below is a breakdown of my Department's procurement expenditure in each of the years 2018 to 2020. All figures include VAT.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (30 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: My opening statement addresses many of the issues and outlines the key expenditures for 2021. Members will have had a chance to read it and there will be an opportunity for members to come back with particular questions. We had an 11% increase in the budget for agriculture, food and the marine, which was very significant in underpinning farm incomes this year. It was important that we...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (30 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: I hope that we make significant progress in the year ahead. The Deputy is correct that part of the increased expenditure is due to the reduction in the European allocation towards the TB eradication programme. The increased costs are also due to the additional reactor herds and there are increased costs around that because of compensation. Broadly the number of tests remains similar even...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (30 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: It is a demand-led scheme. We would hope that over the course of the year we would be able to reduce the reactor numbers. The finance group in the TB forum will certainly assess and monitor the cost as it evolves. Primarily the increased cost has been borne by the Department. It is primarily down to the cost of compensation. I do not have the figure for the reduction in the EU...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (30 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The figures there are broadly based on the number of animals in the country and the number of tests we project for the year ahead. The significant change in the past year was the change in compensation. We went from 3.5% to 4.5%, so in the initial budget last year that would have been €37 million, whereas at the end of the year it was €43.9 million and this year we have...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (30 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Wildlife comes under the Department, and the costs associated with the badger vaccinations come within that as well. The 2021 Estimate for badger vaccination is €1.8 million. That is up significantly. Last year it would have been €900,000 so that has doubled for the year ahead and it is covered by the Department's budget.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (30 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: That would come under the veterinary and regional laboratory Votes. There is no specific allocation for it within the Vote we have but it is a Department expense and it would come within the expenses associated with our veterinary side.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (30 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: Importantly, we have established a TB forum and, within that, we have three working groups. One of those working groups is focused on finance and there is a lot of work ongoing on a report on the issue of finance and a report on the current cost incurred. I will be informed by the work of that TB forum and by that report. The significant burden and the largest part of the expenditure is...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (30 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The majority of the cost falls on the Department. Farmers also bear a cost for the annual testing of their animals, and for those farmers who suffer reactors, there is a tremendous disruptive cost, despite the compensation that is in place. There is a new TB strategy in place and, as part of that, there is a finance committee on that in one of the three key working groups. That finance...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (30 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: This issue comes up regularly in engagements between the farm organisations and the Department. Obviously, in addition to the immense stress and challenge an outbreak of TB raises for farmers, it also poses real financial difficulty for them. The Department has a significant compensation scheme to support the farmers in covering the loss they experience. Farming organisations regularly...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (30 Mar 2021)

Charlie McConalogue: The significant difference in the payments in the beef budget relates to the one-off €50 million beef finish repayment in the middle of last year, which had not been accounted for in the budget the previous year. The difference between the €135 million in the final 2020 Estimate and the 2021 Estimate amounts to that €50 million.