Results 16,161-16,180 of 18,347 for speaker:Brendan Smith
- Sheep Sector. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: I have not shifted my position. Not one comma in any of my statements on the sheep sector has been shifted.
- Sheep Sector. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: I just want to state the facts. I have been entirely consistent. I said at the IFA meeting at Tullamore, where I was criticised for not making a commitment, that I made a commitment to seeking to gain access to the unused funds. I stated I wanted to ensure the changes in the CAP health check would open the possibility for some useful action in the sheep sector. I stated at the meeting...
- Sheep Sector. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: I have total respect for the people I have invited to the meeting.
- EU Funding. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: The agreed rates of additional modulation will generate approximately â¬120 million in total over the four years from 2009 to 2012 in transfers from the single farm payment to rural development. As I have previously made clear, these additional funds will stay in Ireland and be passed back to Irish farmers under the rural development programme. In line with the new regulations they must be...
- EU Funding. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: Our national contribution in respect of the rural development programme far exceeds our national requirement. These new measures will probably serve as an addendum to the existing programme. Our co-financing obligationââ
- EU Funding. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: Absolutely. There may be a perception that the funds will be allocated for some rural development measures beyond the farm gate but this is not true. The modulated funds will be allocated for on-farm activities. The scheme or schemes we will propose to the Commission for approval will have to be linked to the new challenges of climate change, achieving biodiversity and water management. A...
- EU Funding. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: With the level of modulation coming in at present, we would have to put our proposal to Brussels. The decision on whether our co-financing is adequate will be made there. The current national Exchequer contribution to our rural development programme substantially exceeds the EU requirement. We will put forward our particular programme to Brussels when we have completed consultation in...
- Common Agricultural Policy. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: I am satisfied that I have secured a very good deal for Irish farmers in the recent health check negotiations. The deal is worth â¬70 million in additional payments to farmers over the coming years. In addition, the increase in milk quota will deliver â¬100 million worth of additional milk production in 2014. This is enormously positive for the sector and, although there are elements in...
- Common Agricultural Policy. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: I assure Deputy Sherlock that we are considerably in excess of the EU requirement. My understanding is that we will continue to be so, even with the new programme. If the need arises we will discuss that matter with Europe. During recent years our Exchequer has been fortunate in that we have able to put much more funding from national resources into schemes that are partially funded by the...
- Common Agricultural Policy. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: I assure the Deputy that large member states such as France and Germany were totally opposed to any increase in milk quota. We got the butterfat adjustment which is the equivalent of a 2% increase which is very important also. All of us who speak to dairy farmers will talk of their frustration when the calculation is made with regard to butterfat. It lifts up delivery levels as such. I was...
- Fisheries Protection. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: Ireland has a very important position as custodian of some of the largest and richest fishing waters within the EU, but also in our location on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Ireland continues to maintain high standards in the enforcement of regulations within the exclusive fisheries zone, using the resources of the Naval Service, the Air Corps and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority....
- Fisheries Protection. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: This is not the first time I have heard Deputy Sheehan raise this issue at either the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food or this Chamber. I indicated in my reply: Previous advice from the Attorney General in this regard indicated that under the Irish legal system the types of penalties which Ireland is obliged to apply under the Common Fisheries Policy would be viewed as...
- Fisheries Protection. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: No.
- Fisheries Protection. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: First, I wish to correct Deputy Ferris by stating there is no lack of political will or sincerity on this side of the House in respect of this or any fisheries issue. Neither he nor I is in a position to give a detailed response to Dr. Hogan's legal opinion. Professor Hogan is a eminent constitutional lawyer. As I stated to Deputy Sheehan, no doubt the committee will forward that...
- Fisheries Protection. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: According to the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, Deputy Jim O'Keeffe put forward some constructive proposals on this matter and I thank him for them.
- Fisheries Protection. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: Yes. I repeat the advice available to me, that the possibility of introducing a Minister's sanction was comprehensively considered, including examination of practice in other member states, at the time of the passage of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 through the Oireachtas. The position taken by the Minister at the time was based on the legal advice from the then...
- Fisheries Protection. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: In the many meetings that the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, and I have had with individual Members of the Oireachtas and with the Federation of Irish Fishermen, these issues have been raised. Indeed, we have raised them subsequent to our meetings with the fisheries' representative organisation. Naturally, when the advice of Professor Hogan is received by us from the Oireachtas...
- Fisheries Protection. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: I am not going to state that I can bring in legislation immediately. The Government is advised by the Attorney General and that advice will be forthcoming.
- Farm Waste Management. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: The deadline of 31 December 2008 for completion of work by farmers under the revised farm waste management scheme introduced by my Department in March 2006 is a condition of the EU state aid approval for the scheme. The European Commission has since reaffirmed that it expects Ireland to respect this deadline strictly. This has been made known to all farmers who have been approved to...
- Farm Waste Management. (3 Dec 2008)
Brendan Smith: There is no merit in comparing the scheme in the three Ulster counties in this jurisdiction with the remaining 23 counties. The scheme rolled out by the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development in the North for its farming community is a scheme where grant aid is only applicable in respect of slurry storage capacity. There was no element to include grant aid for housing, so it is not...