Results 101-120 of 4,109 for speaker:Martin Heydon

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I cannot speak for them all. I have spoken to them all and outlined our position. I understand their position. Nobody has told me they are not supporting us, but, obviously, countries will be coy about these things. I have no sense that anyone will openly block us.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Apologies, I left my crystal ball at home, so I do not have an answer to that. We would all love to know those answers. We will know in the middle of July. These elements will be announced around 16 July. We are doing everything in our power. I cannot be clearer that I want to maintain the single fund and pillar 1 and 2. We want a fully funded CAP. Will we get that? I have clearly...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: We could end up with so many different scenarios. If what was leaked about a single fund was to come about, that would be very different. I have made the point that it would be bad and would be a re-nationalisation of our system. It would undermine the Single Market. I will not get into predicting what might result from different outcomes, because there are so many such outcomes. All I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The first element of this is the MFF. What happens with the overall budget will determine what happens with the CAP.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: In the role that we play on the Council, does Ireland have a veto?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: At prime ministerial level, there is, of course, a veto. The discussion will be about the MFF and the overall budget for the-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: In the second half of 2026, I will the chair of the Council. We will be working on a basis of consensus. I am meeting every other minister bilaterally to understand their priorities and in order that they understand our priorities. Hopefully, before the end of 2026, under the Irish Presidency, I will be in a position to help get the CAP over the line by means of consensus.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: We are making progress.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I have been in office for four months-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: -----and in those four months we have made progress. We are building up a level of expertise in that. I am not minimising GAEC 2. If people in this room have a rake of constituents who come next year with fines, I will be proven wrong.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I know, but the Deputy said I am minimising it. I cannot let the point go unchallenged because I am not. We negotiated a set of circumstances that means that farmers' day-to-day activity can continue. I am happy to take on board the Deputy's point of view on the video and clearer communications. Mike Moloney, a senior official in my Department, has attended a series of public meetings.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The reason the information is important is that there is plenty of misinformation out there, and plenty of people are saying that. As regards ACRES, I absolutely accept we do not want to be where we are. I said the vast majority-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: What I can say is that when people contact me and my officials, they get a response in a timely manner. I get back to people as best I can.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: Hold on now. The Deputy is personalising this against senior officials and personalising it about people who work in a certain section. I have been in Wexford. The Deputy singled out Wexford in his points. The people there are working under ferocious pressure with a very different environmental scheme, a very big change. We can have a discussion about that someday but we are dealing with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: The solutions there are being worked through and the issues are being fixed in order that they will not reoccur. That is where we are, and the officials are working night and day to make that happen.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: We are working through them week by week. I said the vast majority will be done by the end of May. We are in that space, with over 90% paid, and we are working through the last, most complex cases. We will have this done and it will be done once and for all then.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I thank Senator Boyhan. The people of Narraghmore, a little village in south Kildare, would be very proud of us both and of having two Members of the Oireachtas here. I thank the Senator for his warm comments. The point he makes about women in agriculture is absolutely something we want to incorporate into our Presidency. To have the Presidency of the EU will obviously be a huge honour...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: It is a statutory instrument, which is a form of legislation. That has to go through the legal services section of our Department. It is a lengthy enough process. Obviously, with all legislation, you have to be sure that it is right, the Attorney General has to be happy with it and it has to be robust and not have any unintended consequences. A memo will go to the next Cabinet meeting...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food: Engagement with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (28 May 2025)

Martin Heydon: I can absolutely guarantee we are ad idem. We are working well together. We are going to be a good team. I guarantee that enough work is going around for all four of us, with the number of issues that are coming through.