Results 1,281-1,300 of 7,773 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Mr. Christal mentioned more than ten people being employed earlier, or something like that. Why is there this type of a threshold when we are looking at markets that may need a significant injection of funds? I am talking about the organic milk area. Not every farmer in Ireland is going to do this, first of all. If we go to the conventional places, they will give 60 cent per litre. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Is it just the big guys?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Right.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Or organic and fermenting activities?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Does Enterprise Ireland get involved in other areas? This morning we heard the news, and I know this is different, that the Dutch voted yesterday to ban imports of calves. Does Enterprise Ireland get involved straightaway in an area to see where we might get new markets, or is it Bord Bia that does this?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Just to get this clear in my head, I wish to establish what Enterprise Ireland is open to. I have talked to many organic farmers doing organic milk. They were saying that it goes into the same place as every other bit of milk. This is what happens in many cases, but not in all. If these organic farmers were to have their own small set-up in this regard, a co-operative or whatever, would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: On sheep, does Enterprise Ireland have any workings or research done in collaboration with Bord Bia on sheep's wool? This is a big problem.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The problem is that sheep's wool is worth nothing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: It costs more to shear the sheep than what will be got for selling the wool. We are just wondering if research might be ongoing that we could avail of. I know Enterprise Ireland cannot do this research, but I am just wondering if the organisation is collaborating with Bord Bia or the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in research on insulation materials, for example? I refer to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Very good. I thank Mr. Christal very much.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank the witnesses for attending. They will be aware of major problems in Australia as regards sheep numbers, with farmers even getting rid of them. As has rightly been pointed out, the EU did a trade deal when the UK was still with us. Obviously, the UK is now bringing in its own meat while leaving us with the surplus of lamb coming into Europe from those countries. This situation...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: In their dealings with factories, farmers are penalised for underweight lambs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Factories give farmers nothing for overweight lambs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: You would want to be pretty good with a weighing scale. Is there any-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I believe there was one factory that was going with a higher weight. Generally, when sheep get tight – maybe on the hogget side – factories can go a bit higher. In the ICSA negotiations with the factories, can that be changed to go to 23 kg? What is the thinking behind it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: To broaden it out to the dairy side, if the weather in winter is middling and grass is plentiful, cows might have to go in and many farmers would buy store lambs. With the new nitrates rules, can the witnesses envisage a problem in that regard? Store lamb is a bad trade at the moment, to put it simply. Is it the knock-on effect that the dairy men have the banding and the new nitrates rules...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: For the ones who do buy them, is there a problem arising there with more focus on nitrates?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Development of the Sheep Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Sep 2023)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Why do the witnesses think the store lamb is-----