Results 1,261-1,280 of 18,593 for speaker:Michael Creed

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Tuberculosis Incidence (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: The following table shows the number of reactors and the number of new herd restrictions per year since 2010. Also shown is the amount of actual voted expenditure incurred by my Department over the same period of time, this expenditure does not include staff costs which are estimated annually at circa €25m. These figures do not include farmer contribution towards the cost of the scheme...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Hen Harriers (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: The Hen Harrier Project is operationally independent of my Department and is run by a Hen Harrier Project Team. The information below is sourced from the Project Team. The breakdown per county of payments made for 2019 breeding season is shown below. County Number of participants paid Clare 300 Cork 207 ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sheep Welfare Scheme (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: The table below sets out payments by county for Year 3 of the Sheep Welfare Scheme. County Number paid Amount Paid Average Payment Carlow 391 €498,532.60 €1,275.02 Cavan 371 €263,482.10 €710.19 Clare 183 €72,766.10 ...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Meat Processing Plants (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: A national Outbreak Control team has been established by the HSE to deal with all issues relating to Covid 19 in meat plants. My Department is represented on this committee and it is expected that recommendations, including any in relation to testing, will issue from this group in due course. Any clusters of cases in individual meat plants, in common with clusters in other workplaces, are...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Live Exports (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: In the context of vessels dedicated to the transport of livestock from Ireland, there are currently three such vessels licensed by my Department. The capacity of these vessels depends on the particulars of the consignments being shipped. My Department has not been made aware of any capacity concerns by exporters. In relation to the licensing of new ships, any applications for approval are...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: My Department continues to prioritise the issuing of payments under the various schemes available to farmers. For example, GLAS and Organic Farming Scheme balancing payments were recently brought forward by a number of weeks and balancing payments under the Sheep Welfare Scheme also issued recently. Payments under TAMS are also continuing, at an average of €1.3m per week. I am...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: I am acutely aware of the issues presented to the agri-food sector by COVID-19, and I recognise the vital economic and social role that livestock marts play in cattle and sheep farming in Ireland, and note the engagement between marts, their representative organisations and my Department, which has resulted in marts being permitted to conduct limited operations at this time. The...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: My officials and I have ongoing contact with all the key stakeholders across both the beef and dairy sectors. More than ever in the ongoing response to the Covid-19 pandemic, I am aware of this need for ongoing contact as the situation has evolved. My Department and I are working to ensure that business and services to farmers can continue, keeping food and other processing facilities...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Industry (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: 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: Fishing Industry (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) provides the framework for the long term conservation and sustainability of fish stocks around our shores and is designed to ensure the long term sustainability of fishing in Ireland and throughout EU waters. The CFP specifically calls for the progressive restoration and maintenance of populations of fish stocks above biomass levels capable of producing...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: I am aware that there are currently delays to issuing forestry licences and acknowledge that this is causing difficulties for some in the sector. My Department is intensively engaging with all relevant stakeholders on these issues. The current licensing difficulties are as a result of the changes made to internal Appropriate Assessment Procedures (AAP). These were introduced in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: An application for grant aid under the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme of TAMS ll was submitted by the above named on 1 October 2019. The application was approved subject to the terms and conditions of the Scheme. The above named were notified of approval by letter dated 30 December 2019. The approval letter included details of all the approved investments, which are due to be...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Covid-19 Pandemic (27 May 2020)

Michael Creed: My Department’s statutory responsibility in the context of meat plants is to ensure that the DAFM-approved meat plants operate in compliance with the EU’s food hygiene legislation, animal health and animal welfare standards. Approximately 250 veterinary and technical staff from my Department are routinely involved in supervising, regulating and controlling these standards...

Outbreaks of Covid-19 in Meat Processing Plants: Statements (21 May 2020)

Michael Creed: Deputy Cairns indicated that she wanted to ask me two questions. One was about the power of the beef sector and the other was about sustainability. I am not sure what the third was.

Outbreaks of Covid-19 in Meat Processing Plants: Statements (21 May 2020)

Michael Creed: I will be brief in replying. On the power of the beef sector, we have taken specific actions to try to redress the balance. The Deputy might be aware that we have been advocating for and have successfully established a number of producer organisations, for example. The constant refrain regarding the beef sector has been that when an individual farmer rocks up outside a meat plant, he is a...

Outbreaks of Covid-19 in Meat Processing Plants: Statements (21 May 2020)

Michael Creed: That is the historical record. I cannot force people to get involved in a co-operative but the historical record is that there was co-operative involvement in the meat industry and those involved exited from it.

Outbreaks of Covid-19 in Meat Processing Plants: Statements (21 May 2020)

Michael Creed: If the Deputy will let me reply, I am outlining the things we are doing to try to redress this and to give more power along the supply chain. There is what is called the EU's unfair trading practices, UTP, directive, which we are transposing into national law. In the context of that transposition, we went out to public consultation and one of the issues which we have attached to the...

Outbreaks of Covid-19 in Meat Processing Plants: Statements (21 May 2020)

Michael Creed: We concluded a public consultation. We have a fixed period within which we transpose the directive into national law. We were doing it as quickly as possible. As the directive was only completed at the end of 2019, we are losing no time on it. The producer organisations are already up and running and I encourage farmers to join one, if they have not already done so. On the issue of...

Outbreaks of Covid-19 in Meat Processing Plants: Statements (21 May 2020)

Michael Creed: The impression has been created by Deputy Duncan Smith that this is a workforce dominated by migrant workers. He referred to 70% to 90% of them being migrant workers. We need to deal in facts. The largest ethnic group working in the meat industry here comprises Irish people. The overwhelming majority of people working in Irish meat plants are citizens of Ireland or other European Union...

Outbreaks of Covid-19 in Meat Processing Plants: Statements (21 May 2020)

Michael Creed: That was a wide-ranging contribution on Covid-19. If the Deputy would like me to give chapter and verse on what we are doing for the beef industry, I draw his attention, for example, to a simple item called the beef data and genomics programme, BDGP, aimed at improving the genetic merit of the herd, thereby improving its environmental and financial efficiency. That is just one scheme....