Results 16,221-16,240 of 23,975 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Applications (28 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: 190. To ask the Minister for Health when a decision on a medical card application review by a person (details supplied) in County Donegal will issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14310/18]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Basic Payment Scheme Appeals (28 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: 232. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a decision will be made on a basic payment scheme appeal by a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14305/18]

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: I am okay for now.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: The Minister's position on the fodder crisis, which Deputy Cahill raised, is that there is no crisis. Does he continue to maintain that position? I am interested in his assessment of the current position regarding fodder. I understand approximately nine applications have been made for the fodder transport subsidy. Does the Minister accept the scheme was a folly and the Department's...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: Did Teagasc advise the Department to take its current approach of providing a transport subsidy?

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: The Minister stated he will take the advice of Teagasc and other bodies from now on and indicated that Teagasc did not advise the Department to take the route of introducing a transport subsidy. It is a roll of the dice now as to how long the spring may be. The Minister must be much more proactive than simply monitoring the position daily. One step he could take would be to review the...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: Is the Minister open to changing his approach?

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: To follow on from Deputy Cahill's final point where he raised the issue of why there is €20 million assigned for the sheep welfare scheme this year and €17 million next year, I note that the number of herd owners participating in the animal welfare scheme for sheep was 33,000 last year but only 23,000 this year. Deputy Cahill asked why it did not add up. There is a €3...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: That is not what the previous Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, or the Government of the time committed to. It is crystal clear and it is in black and white in the Government's own commitments. When the GLAS scheme was announced it was clearly committed by the then Minister, Deputy Coveney, on behalf of the Government that it would be €1.45 billion on GLAS over the course of the rural...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: The politics is on the Minister's side if it is anywhere, because he promised this and got the resulting headlines. That was the commitment he made.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: How can anyone take seriously anything the Government says if that is the way it is going to do business? Spending of €1.45 billion was promised, absolutely crystal clearly. The Government made no bones about it. It was promised very clearly by the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney. It was not qualified in any way. In fact, there was no room...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: That will be spending on other schemes, previous schemes that were announced before. The Minister is saying that it was all a charade and that we should just walk away and ignore it.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: I will make what I am saying clear, rather than have the Minister put it in other words for me. The Government should be honest with farmers at all times. I am also saying that it was absolutely dishonest in this instance. On the GLAS scheme, the Minister refers to commitments running up to 2022, the point when everyone who is currently in GLAS will be out of it. By the time everybody is...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: I see that the Bord Bia grant was €41 million in 2017 and €41 million in 2018. I know a specific one-off payment has been made to Bord Bia for the development of new markets. However, given the massive challenge arising from Brexit and the extra demand that places on the development of new markets, I would have thought there should be additional funding to Bord Bia,...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: That was a one-off grant. It was not built into their base, if I am correct.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: It is not recurring.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: To be clear, that was a €5 million one-off grant for a specific project. It is not a recurring grant. The funding for staff numbers and boots on the ground remains the same. The point I was making-----

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: That is not in relation to-----

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: The point that those involved in developing new markets would make is that they could do with more resources. I thought the Minister might recognise that.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Charlie McConalogue: It is not a dog's dinner, is it?