Results 12,201-12,220 of 18,482 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Areas Scheme: Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (6 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: As the Deputy is aware, the EU Court of Auditors raised concerns about the procedures for the designation of intermediate Disadvantaged Areas (also known as Less Favoured Areas) in the European Union. The concerns related to the number and variety of criteria used to designate such areas - Member States have used more than one hundred criteria - and the lack of transparency. The EU...

Written Answers — Flood Relief: Flood Relief (6 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: Mindful of the hardship and distress caused by the widespread flooding experienced during the latter part of last year, on 27 November 2009 I announced the introduction of the Fodder Aid Scheme, targeted directly at those farmers who encountered damage to fodder in the affected areas. While I was very anxious that the funding reach the affected farmers as quickly as possible, it was essential...

Written Answers — Farm Retirement Scheme: Farm Retirement Scheme (6 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: My Department received 175 applications following the temporary reopening of the Early Retirement Scheme from 23 September to 30 October 2009. The applications are being processed and, to date, 71 have been approved for payment. Twelve of the applications could not be accepted for processing and a further four applications have been rejected following processing as they did not meet the...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (6 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: The Dairy Hardship Compensation Fund is part of a package of measures agreed at the Council of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers, as part of which €300 million was made available to support dairy farmers across the EU who were severely affected by the fall in milk prices. Each Member State's share of this fund was calculated based on their milk production in the 2008/2009 milk quota...

Written Answers — Milk Quota: Milk Quota (6 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: The EU Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) provides a range of support measures that can be used to manage the dairy market, and these were modified in the CAP reforms of 1999 and 2003. In the Health Check negotiations in 2008 there was pressure to remove or weaken the support measures significantly. At that time I fought hard to keep the key market instruments in place and the importance of...

Written Answers — Farm Retirement Scheme: Farm Retirement Scheme (6 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: An amended application from the person named is currently being examined in my Department. The applicant will be informed of the outcome once this examination is complete.

Written Answers — Departmental Contracts: Departmental Contracts (6 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: No printing contracts on behalf of my Department have been awarded to companies based outside this country.

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulation: Health and Safety Regulation (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: I am deeply concerned with the level of safety on our farms and I fully support the work of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), which is the national body in Ireland with responsibility for securing health and safety at work. The HSA is also responsible for the collecting and recording of workplace accident data. The most recent CSO estimate for accidents in the agricultural, forestry...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: Against the background of the deterioration in public finances, my approach in preparing the 2009 Estimates for my Department was to protect expenditure for major developmental measures in the agri-food sector. To achieve this objective, savings had to be found in other areas and I decided, reluctantly, to reduce expenditure under the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme for 2009 by reducing the...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: The person named has 13 animals for consideration under the 2009 Suckler Welfare Scheme. It is a condition of this Scheme that for herds of more than 10 cows the calves must be weaned in at least two separate groups with each group being removed at a minimum interval of five days. The person named weaned all animals on 14/11/09 and consequently did not comply with this condition. Therefore,...

Written Answers — Tax Audits: Tax Audits (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: No circumstances arose in my Department that required an unprompted voluntary disclosure to be made to the Revenue Commissioners in the years 2005-2010.

Written Answers — Tax Audits: Tax Audits (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: My Department did not make any settlements with the Revenue Commissioners in the years 2005-2009.

Written Answers — Tax Audits: Tax Audits (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: The following tax audits were carried out by the Revenue Commissioners on my Department in the period 2005- 2010: A Value Added Tax audit took place in February 2005 and the Department's operations were found to be in order. A Relevant Contracts Tax audit took place in November 2005. The audit found that the Department was a principal contractor when it engaged hauliers to bring animals to a...

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Areas Scheme: Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: An application under the 2009 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme was received from the person named on 10 April 2009. The Terms and Conditions governing the Scheme require, inter alia, that applicants maintain a minimum stocking density on their holding of 0.15 livestock units per forage hectare declared, for at least three consecutive months, during the calendar year of application. However, where...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: The new Grassland Sheep Scheme, which has a total budget of €54 million, will operate for three years: 2010, 2011 and 2012. This funding, which comes from the unused Single Payment funds, will provide a very important and timely boost to support incomes in the sheep sector over the next three years. The Scheme has been kept administratively simple, which will facilitate the Department in...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: The person named has 25 animals for consideration under the 2009 Suckler Welfare Scheme. It is a condition of this Scheme that for herds of more than 10 cows the calves must be weaned in at least two separate groups with each group being removed at a minimum interval of five days. The person named submitted an explanation regarding this issue but his comments did not warrant any deviation...

Written Answers — National Lottery Funding: National Lottery Funding (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: No funding was received by my Department from the National Lottery in the period in question.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Smith: Details of the amounts paid by my Department in legal fees for each of the years from 2000 to date in 2010 are being compiled at present and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible. The amounts paid in legal fees by each of the agencies and bodies under the aegis of my Department are a matter for the agencies/bodies themselves.

Written Answers — Horseracing Industry: Horseracing Industry (30 Jun 2010)

Brendan Smith: The Irish bloodstock industry makes a significant contribution to the Irish economy and is particularly important to the rural economy with some 22,000 full-time employees in the thoroughbred equine industry. In 2008, 6,222 Irish thoroughbreds, with a value of €216 million, were exported to 42 countries demonstrating the value of the industry to the national economy. In excess of 40% of...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (30 Jun 2010)

Brendan Smith: The information sought in regard to the amounts of grant funding paid by my Department to the organisation concerned in 2008 and 2009, and any allocation in 2010, is currently being compiled and will be sent to the Deputy as soon as possible.