Results 16,041-16,060 of 18,347 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: Those farmers who held a sugar beet quota during one or more of the years 2001, 2002, 2004 were entitled to have the Single Payment Entitlements topped up. However, as neither of the persons named held such a quota, they were not automatically entitled to have their Single Payment adjusted. The father of the persons named did hold such a quota and he chose to request that his payments be...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: The number of REPS 4 payments made on a county-by-county basis is as follows: County Number paid Cavan 11 Clare 10 Cork 13 Donegal 28 Galway 10 Kerry 19 Kilkenny 7 Leitrim 9 Limerick 6 Longford 5 Mayo 5 Monaghan 2 Offaly 3 Roscommon 8 Sligo 8 Tipperary 10 Waterford 8 Wexford 1 Total 163 These payments all relate to applications received in 2007. The total paid to these...

Written Answers — Sheep Sector: Sheep Sector (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: The sheep sector is a significant beneficiary of the main schemes operated by my Department. Sheep farmers receive an annual estimated €126m. under the Single Farm Payment and an annual estimated €60m. under the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme. In the case of REPS, some €84m. is paid annually to them. The sector is also benefiting from measures that have been put in place following the...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: REPS 4 is a measure under the current Rural Development Programme 2007-13 and is subject to different EU Regulations from the preceding versions of REPS. Under REPS 4, all payments are to be made in just two instalments. The first payment, of 75%, can be made only when all administrative checks on all 2008 applications for REPS 4 and the Single Payment Scheme are completed. This is why it...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I understand that an application for payment from the person in question was received on 24 October. This is being processed at present and, provided the work is up to the required standard, payment will be made in the normal way.

Written Answers — Bovine Diseases: Bovine Diseases (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table. Year No. of Herds in Country Cattle population under test Number of animal tests Number of Reactors 1997 145,209 7,725,634 9,910,074 28,647 1998 142,302 7,946.989 10,677,291 44,498 1999 138,263 7,569,735 10,749,580 44,903 2000 133,542 7,032,407 10,304,162 39,847 2001 130,525 7,097,430 9,402,196 33,702 2002...

Written Answers — Bovine Disease Controls: Bovine Disease Controls (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: My Department's Bovine TB eradication programme is based primarily on the diagnosis of disease using the Single Intradermal Comparative Tuberculin test (SICTT), which is generally referred to as the TB skin test and which is an EU approved test. I should explain that no test is 100% accurate and the 'sensitivity' and 'specificity' of the skin test is a function not just of the test itself...

Written Answers — Bovine Disease Controls: Bovine Disease Controls (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: A key objective of the TB eradication scheme is the prompt removal of reactor animals direct to a designated factory for slaughter. My Department currently arranges and pays for a national reactor collection service to remove reactor animals from holdings. In general, reactors are removed within one week of acceptance by the herd owner of the valuation attributed to the animals through the...

Written Answers — Veterinary Inspection Services: Veterinary Inspection Services (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: Since 1996, it has been the responsibility of herdowners to make the necessary arrangements with their private veterinary practitioners to have the annual TB and Brucellosis herd tests carried out and, in general, unless reactors are disclosed the herdowner pays the testing veterinary practitioner for carrying out these tests. This system has worked well since its inception and I am not...

Written Answers — Bovine Disease Controls: Bovine Disease Controls (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I understand that the Question relates to bovine TB. In accordance with the requirements of EU Directive 64/432/EEC, all eligible bovines that are exported to other member states are subject to a 30-day pre-movement TB test. For trade within Ireland, the current legal requirement is that an eligible animals may not leave a holding, including for slaughter, unless they have been tested within...

Written Answers — Bovine Disease Controls: Bovine Disease Controls (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: The information sought by the Deputy is not maintained centrally and it would place excessive demands on scarce staff resources in the Department to compile these data.

Written Answers — Cattle Identification Scheme: Cattle Identification Scheme (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovines and national legislation, it is obligatory to tag cattle. In addition each keeper of bovine animals is required to register a calf on the national Cattle Movement Monitoring System (CMMS) database within 27 days of birth. While there is no requirement for the...

Written Answers — Bovine Disease Controls: Bovine Disease Controls (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: The information sought by the Deputy in relation to the programme cost of the TB eradication scheme, excluding administration costs and travel and subsistence costs, is set out in the following table: 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 €m €m €m €m €m €m €m €m €m €m €m Supplies/Services 2.33 2.99 2.94 2.80 2.66 3.60 5.20 5.07 6.60 6.49 6.92...

Written Answers — Bovine Disease Controls: Bovine Disease Controls (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: The level of disease in a region is best measured on the basis of the number of reactors, the herd incidence and the numbers of reactors per thousand animals tested (APT). The table sets out this information in relation to Ireland and Northern Ireland for the period 1997 to 2007. Year No. of Reactors Herd Incidence APT Ireland N. Ireland Ireland N. Ireland Ireland N. Ireland 1997 28,647...

Written Answers — Bovine Disease Controls: Bovine Disease Controls (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: The Forum, which was established in 1996, was a consultative body consisting of the major stakeholders in the animal health area and did not produce any report. The main function of the Forum was to achieve a consensus on the policy framework for the Department's approach to animal diseases and all of the major policy changes which were introduced into the TB and Brucellosis eradication...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: An application under the Single Payment Scheme/Disadvantaged Areas Scheme was received from the person named on the 15th May 2008. This application was selected for a cross compliance and satellite eligibility inspection. The cross compliance inspection was carried out on 10th October 2008 and the results have been processed. However the satellite inspection raised a number of issues...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (4 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: My Department has no record of having received a complete application under the Farm Waste Management Scheme from the person concerned.

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (3 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: The possibility of support to the sheep sector will be considered in the light of the outcome of the recent CAP Health Check. That outcome provides that an additional amount of some €24 million annually will be available to Irish farmers from 2010 onwards. That amount may be used to target specific sectors in need of assistance and represents money that would otherwise not be available to...

Written Answers — Pig Sector: Pig Sector (3 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: The relevant EU market support measures — private storage and export refunds — assisted the sector over the last year. Ireland raised the possible re-introduction of export refunds for fresh and frozen pigmeat in the context of a recent EU management committee for animal products. The EU Commission declined, however, to take action at this stage. It holds the view that the outlook for pig...

Written Answers — Food Shortages: Food Shortages (3 Dec 2008)

Brendan Smith: I am very much aware that the future health of Ireland's agriculture sector is inextricably linked with the ability of Irish farmers to respond, in a sustainable way, to both the challenges and the opportunities arising from changes to our climate. There is no evidence to suggest that climate change poses any major threat to our staple fruit and vegetable crops. Indeed, the impact on...