Results 15,341-15,360 of 18,347 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Written Answers — Dairy Sector: Dairy Sector (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: The dairy sector is facing a period of market volatility across the globe at present resulting from supply/demand disequilibrium in international markets. Having reached record high levels in 2007 and early 2008, dairy product prices and producer prices also peaked in that time. Since then international dairy product prices have fallen back considerably, although the average Irish producer...

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: The Young Farmers' Installation Scheme and the Early Retirement Scheme were suspended for new applications on 14 October 2008 due to budgetary constraints. Applications for these schemes received in my Department since 14 October 2008 have not been processed.

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: The sheep sector already benefits significantly from the main schemes operated by my Department. Sheep farmers receive an estimated annual: €126 million from the Single Farm Payment, €60 million under the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme and €84 million under REPS. In addition to this support and following the Sheep Strategy Report, a number of other measures have also been put in place to...

Written Answers — Food Labelling: Food Labelling (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: The Minister for Health & Children has overall responsibility for the general food labelling legislation. Under the general labelling Directive (2000/13/EC), the place of origin of the foodstuff must be given only if its absence might mislead the consumer to a material degree. The European Commission is currently undertaking a major review of all food labelling legislation. In this context...

Written Answers — Animal Diseases: Animal Diseases (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: In general, Ireland's national herd covering all farm species meets very high health standards and very good progress has been made in recent years in dealing with regulated diseases such as BSE and Brucellosis. However, less progress has been made in relation to non- regulated diseases. While the losses to agriculture arising from these latter diseases vary from farm to farm and are not...

Written Answers — Fishing Quota: Fishing Quota (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: The representatives of the polyvalent (multi-purpose) vessels in the Irish fleet sought an increased share of Ireland's mackerel quota for 2009, while the representatives of the Refrigerated Salt Water (RSW) fleet, based in the north-west opposed any increase in the share for the polyvalent vessels. The background to the situation is that the allocation arrangements were last revised in...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: I am keenly aware of the problems encountered by farmers as a consequence of the bad weather, particularly the harvesting of forage and cereal crops in 2008. In recognition of these problems, I wrote to the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Ms Fischer Boel, seeking approval for the early payment of the 2008 Single Payment. My request was for advance payment at a rate of 50%,...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: A good deal of work has been undertaken on drafting the Animal Health and Welfare Bill which gives effect to a number of commitments in the area of animal health and welfare contained in the Programme for Government. In particular, the Bill will amend and consolidate previous legislation to reflect the changed disease status of our animals and update existing legislation, to ensure that the...

Written Answers — Rural Environment Protection Scheme: Rural Environment Protection Scheme (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: The new REPS 4 scheme allows grassland farmers to apply for REPS even if they are operating above the general limit of 170 kgs of organic nitrogen per hectare laid down in the Nitrates Directive, provided that they apply for a nitrates derogation. In 2008, 603 REPS 4 farmers applied for a derogation. I welcome the fact that more intensive farmers are joining REPS, as it means that our most...

Written Answers — Foreshore Licences: Foreshore Licences (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: Following confirmation by the Valuation Office that it would not be in a position to supply a valuation service in respect of activities on State foreshore, my Department sought approval from the Department of Finance for the use of valuers from the private sector. A number of applications for foreshore consents currently on hand cannot be progressed without valuation. The Department of...

Written Answers — Common Agricultural Policy: Common Agricultural Policy (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: I propose to take Questions Nos. 84 and 89 together. A first policy debate on the future of the CAP after 2013 took place at the informal meeting of Agriculture Ministers in Annecy in September last. In the initial debate, there was general agreement on the global context in which policy thinking must be developed. All the ministers present were concerned about global food security,...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: The EU Commission has now brought forward proposals for a new European Fisheries Control system which allows for the application of administrative action or criminal proceedings in conformity with national law. The possibility of introducing administrative sanctions for fisheries offences in Ireland was comprehensively considered, including an examination of practices in other Member States,...

Written Answers — Aquaculture Licences: Aquaculture Licences (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: The Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1997, as amended, governs the granting, renewal, amendment or revocation of aquaculture licences. In considering an application for an aquaculture licence, including an application to renew an aquaculture licence, the licensing authority must consider: the potential impacts on safety and navigation, the ecological impacts on wild fisheries, natural habitats,...

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: The Young Farmers' Installation Scheme and the Early Retirement Scheme were suspended for new applications on 14 October 2008 due to budgetary constraints. I have no proposals to re-open the schemes.

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: The Nitrates Regulations (SI No. 378 of 2006) are a matter for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the first instance. The objective of the Regulations is to protect water quality and the various provisions are designed to control the management of fertilisers, including the timing, method of application and maximum amounts that may be applied, in order to...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: In December 2008 I announced details of a grant-aid package of €16.7 million under my Department's capital investment scheme for the marketing and processing of agricultural products. The grant-aid will benefit 66 enterprises and is expected to contribute to an actual investment on projects in the region of €70 million across the horticulture, livestock marts and small meat sectors. These...

Written Answers — Common Agricultural Policy: Common Agricultural Policy (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91, 98 and 122 together. One of my primary objectives in the Health check negotiations was to get access to unspent funds within the EU's agriculture budget for use by Member States with a wide range of discretion. This was achieved in the final deal and, as a result, Ireland will receive additional funds amounting to approximately €7m in 2009 (from the...

Written Answers — Rural Environment Protection Scheme: Rural Environment Protection Scheme (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: Out of 12,773 farmers who have applied for REPS 4 (including those whose applications have been received since the 2008 closing date of 15 May), 935 farmers have applied for the mixed grazing supplementary measure.

Written Answers — World Trade Negotiations: World Trade Negotiations (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: The current position in regard to the WTO negotiations is that talks are stalled following the failure to reach agreement at the Ministerial meeting last July and the decision to defer indefinitely a second Ministerial meeting planned for last December. The World Economic Forum at Davos last month provided no new momentum for the negotiations and the next key event will be the G20 meeting in...

Written Answers — Food Industry: Food Industry (11 Feb 2009)

Brendan Smith: Bord Bia has a comprehensive set of marketing and promotional programmes in place. These programmes are target driven and have been developed in consultation with key stakeholders in the Irish food industry. The UK will continue to be Ireland's single largest export market and a major priority for exporters. While Bord Bia will continue its marketing activities in the UK, however other...