Results 17,261-17,280 of 18,372 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Fishing Industry Development. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: No. The offers have gone out to the individual vessel owners. A total of €42 million has gone out——

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: My Department implements a broad range of schemes and services in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and food processing sectors. It is responsible for voted expenditure of some €1.9 billion in 2008 and also acts as paying agency in respect of EU funding for direct payments to farmers and market supports which total about €1.4 billion. A high proportion of the Department's Vote relates...

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: ——together account for over €250 million of the Department's Vote this year to ensure that investment in the farming, forestry, fisheries and food sectors continues to play a critical role in encouraging innovation, improving competitiveness and ensuring protection of the environment. Expenditure, receipts and the achievement of key outputs are very closely monitored on an ongoing basis...

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I will come back to Deputy Creed with more detail. I will write to him during the week because I do not have statistics with me on the take-up there may have been in the meantime since he tabled that parliamentary question. I assure him that I met individual farmers and others familiar with the sheep sector. There are concerns about the decline in numbers for some time but, thankfully,...

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I also had discussions with Ministers from the other devolved administrations in our neighbouring island on a number of issues. We have been making arrangements to hold formal meetings — these were more informal meetings. One of the issues we will have down for discussion at the next North-South Ministerial Conference on Agriculture that comes up relatively shortly is the issue of sheep...

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: As Deputy Creed will be aware, we review on an ongoing basis the particular demands on each of the subheads in the Department. Sometimes there can be pressure on one subhead. Other times there can be a reduced draw down on another subhead. At times, in my limited knowledge of Government finances, there can be a transfer between subheads within a Department depending on the particular...

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I will not mislead Deputy Creed or any Member of the House. I do not know what draw down there has been on that particular scheme to date.

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: As Deputy Creed will be aware, sometimes the draw down can change considerably in a short space of time——

Departmental Reviews. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: ——but I will not give him information that would not be accurate.

World Trade Negotiations. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: The WTO Director General announced on Friday last that he will propose that a WTO ministerial meeting take place in Geneva in the week commencing 21 July next. The purpose of this meeting is to finalise the modalities or detailed texts of agreements on agriculture and non-agricultural market access, NAMA. It is envisaged that a Signalling Conference on Trade in Services will take place at...

World Trade Negotiations. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: On the question on unanimity before the Lisbon treaty, as we all are aware, there was any amount of misrepresentation and misinformation on the Lisbon treaty and what it would and would not affect. There was a suggestion from the "No" campaign that unanimity would not be a requirement for a WTO deal if the Lisbon treaty was ratified. Unanimity was a requirement before the referendum and...

World Trade Negotiations. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I am not afraid to say it and I was going to use the word. The misinformation circulating created a need for a debate on the requirement for unanimity. My predecessor, the Taoiseach and I have indicated that Ireland is prepared to use its veto if an agreement which is unacceptable——

World Trade Negotiations. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: What Deputy Creed says is not correct because he——

World Trade Negotiations. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: I have participated in public broadcasts and media interviews and stated then what I will state now, if I have the opportunity to finish. The Taoiseach indicated that Ireland is prepared to use its veto if an agreement unacceptable to it is put to a vote and this remains the position. To revert to the Deputy's earlier question, we expect revised papers on non-agricultural market access,...

Fishing Fleet Protection. (1 Jul 2008)

Brendan Smith: The current discussions at EU level on the high cost of fuel are essentially about short-term emergency measures. However, any long-term solution to the current difficulties will have to include measures to rectify the fundamental rebalancing of the fleet capacity with the stock resources available, taking into account the operational costs involved for fishing vessel owners. Grant aid...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (26 Jun 2008)

Brendan Smith: The information sought by the Deputy is as follows: Organisation Grant-in-aid Grant-in-aid Grant in Aid 2008 (€'000) (€'000) (€'000) Bord Bia 27,705 27,505 13,752 Teagasc 128,050 132,514 60,000 Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) 27,753 49,045 13,142 Marine Institute 28,980 32,339 13,460 Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) 10,954 14,410 7,472

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (26 Jun 2008)

Brendan Smith: The person concerned is an applicant for aid under the Installation Aid Scheme. His application is currently being examined within my Department and the outcome will be notified to the person concerned as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (26 Jun 2008)

Brendan Smith: The herd number quoted is registered in the sole name of the second person named. The second person named applied to be considered for an allocation of entitlements under Category A of the 2005 National Reserve which catered for farmers who inherited land or received land free of charge or for a nominal sum from a farmer who had retired or died by 16 May, 2005 and who had leased out his/her...

Written Answers — Fishing Industry Development: Fishing Industry Development (26 Jun 2008)

Brendan Smith: I am currently involved in a series of meetings with the Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) regarding the very difficult issues facing the Irish fishing industry. Minister Killeen and I attended the Council of Fisheries meeting in Luxembourg where we conveyed in the strongest possible terms the depth of feeling of Irish fishermen on these issues and the seriousness of the situation facing...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (26 Jun 2008)

Brendan Smith: Applications received under the Farm Improvement Scheme prior to its suspension on 31 October 2007 are being processed by my Department up to the level of funding made available for the Scheme by the 2006 Partnership agreement, Towards 2016.