Results 14,001-14,020 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan

Written Answers — Common Agricultural Policy: Common Agricultural Policy (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The total EU budget for the CAP for 2005, excluding rural development, is €42.514 billion, or approximately 40% of the total EU budget of €106.3 billion. In 1995, expenditure on the CAP, excluding rural development style accompanying measures, was €33.632 billion, or 50.72% of total EU expenditure for that year. This core CAP expenditure excludes EAGGF guarantee funded rural development...

Written Answers — EU Funding: EU Funding (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: Total EU receipts from the EAGGF guarantee fund for direct payments and accompanying measures, and from the EAGGF guidance fund for rural development schemes involving payments to farmers, in respect of the period 1995 to 2004 were as follows: Guarantee Fund Guidance Fund Total Receipts â'¬ billion â'¬billion â'¬billion 1995 0.766 0.168...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: From the records available there are no particulars of grant aid awarded to the company in question by the Department for the slaughtering of deer in the 1986 to 1989 period.

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The following amounts of funding, capital and non-capital, were allocated to Teagasc in the past five years: Year Outturn â'¬m 2001 105.562 2002 115.531 2003 120.379 2004 116.830* 2005 123.099 Estimate *The 2004 allocation did not include any provision for capital expenditure as sanction had been given to Teagasc to utilise proceeds from asset sales for its...

Written Answers — Animal Welfare: Animal Welfare (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: My Department is still considering the detailed arrangements and requirements for application of the new EU regulations for the transport of animals. Following a process of information exchange and consultation, over the coming months officials in my Department will transpose the EU regulations into national legislation and this process should be completed in early 2006. It should be noted...

Written Answers — Animal Feedstuffs: Animal Feedstuffs (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The regulation on official food and feed controls, OFFC, gives the general rules on controls to prevent, eliminate and reduce risks to human and animal health. The controls stipulated within the regulation are to guarantee fair practices in the food and feed trade. Member states' responsibility to ensure business operators apply EU legislation correctly is clearly defined. The regulation...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The hygiene package is one of the key elements of the consolidation and updating of the EU's food safety legislation. It is composed of five regulations-directives covering general hygiene, hygiene of foodstuffs of animal origin, official controls and animal health rules for products of animal origin intended for human consumption, and a directive repealing the previously existing...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: I wish to inform the Deputy that EU Directive 95/69/EC, as transposed into Irish legislation by SI 88 of 1999, provides for control measures in the area of production, transport, storage and handling of animal feed. This legislation has now been strengthened significantly with the introduction of EU Regulation 183/2005 which lays down additional rules for feed hygiene. The majority of this...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: An application for consideration under the force majeure-exceptional circumstances measure of the single payment regulations was submitted by the person named on 27 October 2004. Following a full examination of the circumstances put forward, the person named was informed on 25 January 2005 that the circumstances outlined by him did not satisfy the criteria for force majeure-exceptional...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The total cost of external legal services engaged by my Department from 1 January 1998 to date is €3,698,369.60. The expenditure relates mainly to legal services provided for two High Court cases as well as advice on the World Trade Organisation agreement, on a tender and contracts for meat and bone meal disposal; and regarding matters arising under the Agriculture Appeals Act 2001.

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The detailed information requested by the Deputy is being compiled and will be sent to him as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Departmental Accommodation: Departmental Accommodation (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: During the Foot and Mouth crisis my Department rented temporary accommodation in the area affected which included a demountable structure. While the bulk of this involved renting a hotel which acted as the local operations centre, it included a marquee, provided by the hotel owners for use as a temporary working space. The cost of this was included in the overall bill for the hotel.

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The person named submitted an application for an allocation of entitlements from the single payment scheme national reserve under category C, which caters for farmers who, between 1 January 2000 and 19 October 2003, sold their milk quotas into the milk quota restructuring scheme and converted their enterprise to a farming sector for which a direct payment under livestock premia and, or arable...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The accompanying table gives a breakdown of staff employed in my office, as requested by the Deputy. I should also point out that in the 1994 to 1997 Government, the then Minister for Agriculture and Food appointed both a special adviser and programme manager at principal officer level, the current salary scale for which is €75,036 to €92,813, as well as a personal secretary and personal...

Written Answers — Special Beef Premium Scheme: Special Beef Premium Scheme (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: I have raised the issue of the breach of our national ceiling under the 2004 special beef premium scheme on a number of occasions with the EU Agriculture Commissioner, most recently during her visit here last week. I have put the case strongly that the overshoot arose as a result of the changeover to full de-coupling with effect from 1 January 2005. My officials have also prepared and...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: Since 1997 my Department's expenditure on research and development activities amounted to €865.88 million. This includes a total provision of €716.37 million by my Department for Teagasc — excluding pension provisions and capital expenditure grants — towards its ongoing programme of agricultural education, research and training. Department Teagasc â'¬ million â'¬...

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Areas Scheme: Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The EU Commission recently approved the case made by Ireland for reclassifying all the less severely handicapped townlands of County Monaghan to more severely handicapped status. There were 322 townlands affected by this reclassification. The area involved is more than 12,000 hectares or 29,600 acres and 750 farmers will benefit from this reclassification.

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Areas Scheme: Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The Council of Agriculture Ministers agreed, at its meeting in Luxembourg on 20 June 2005, a new framework for rural development for the period 2007 to 2013. The agreement provides for the maintenance of the existing arrangements for the less favoured areas until 2010. In the meantime, the Commission will present a report and proposals to the European Council concerning the future payment...

Written Answers — Installation Aid Scheme: Installation Aid Scheme (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The numbers of applicants, recipients and expenditure from 1997 are set out in the following table. Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 (End-May) Total Applications (Current Scheme only) — — — — 754 932 797 691 294 3,468 Recipients 1,252 628 567 467 357 579 987 808 246 5,891 Expenditure...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (28 Jun 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The application for payment in this case was received in my Department on 9 June 2005 and is being processed in accordance with the timeframes set out in the protocol on direct payments to farmers. My officials are in correspondence with the legal representatives of the person named about penalties he incurred when he was in REPS 1.