Results 17,681-17,700 of 18,496 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: There is no grant-aid available from my Department for the construction of cattle underpasses.

Written Answers — Harbours and Piers: Harbours and Piers (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: Kilcummin Pier is owned by Mayo County Council and responsibility for its repair and maintenance rests with the Local Authority in the first instance. However, in late 2007, my Department invited Mayo County Council to submit proposals for inclusion in the Fishery Harbours & Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme for 2008. An application for funding for a new slipway and hard standing...

Written Answers — Farm Waste Management: Farm Waste Management (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: I presume the Deputy is referring to the end-2008 deadline for completion of work by farmers under the revised Farm Waste Management Scheme introduced by my Department in March 2006. This is a strict condition of the EU state aid approval for the Scheme and I have no plans to approach the EU Commission to alter the terms of the state aid approval. All claims for payment must therefore be...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: The EU Commission has proposed a Thematic Strategy for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides. The Strategy includes a number of initiatives to reduce the impact of pesticides including a revised and extended Regulatory system for plant protection products. Council Directive 91/414/EEC requires that all plant protection products be approved, following risk assessments, before being placed on the...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: The information requested by the Deputy in respect of payments made by my Department is set out in the following table. Year Average no. of days for payment to issue 2004 18 days 2005 23 days 2006 18 days 2007 22 days 2008 (to date) 18 days The table indicates the number of days which elapsed between receipt of invoices in the Department and the issue of payment. Payments made by...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: The 2007 National Reserve was advertised on 16 May 2007 with a closing date of 8 June 2007. On initial examination of the Department's records it appeared that up to 8,000 farmers could qualify under the special sheep measure of the National Reserve but up to 11 June only 1,000 farmers had applied under this category. The deadline for applications was then extended to 22 June 2007. In...

Written Answers — Sheep Sector: Sheep Sector (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: On 16 May 2007, a comprehensive package of aid measures was announced for the sheep sector in Ireland, including a specific range of grants to encourage on-farm investment in that sector. These grants were made available to sheep farmers under the Farm Improvement Scheme which was introduced on 12 July 2007. The Scheme was suspended for new applications on 31 October 2007 as applications...

Written Answers — Rural Environment Protection Scheme: Rural Environment Protection Scheme (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: The mixed grazing supplementary measure is available to farmers joining REPS 4. Out of 3,787 applications for REPS 4 received up to today, 241 applicants have indicated that they wish to participate in the mixed grazing measure. Eleven of these applications have been approved and paid to date. In total my Department has issued some €9,000 to the farmers. I am currently considering...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: The person named submitted a REPS 4 plan in December 2007. If it is a valid application, he will start his REPS 4 contract from 1 January 2008 and will receive 75% of his 2008 full year's REPS payment when all administrative checks for REPS and the 2008 Single Payment Scheme are completed. In practice, this will be in early autumn. The remaining 25% payment will go out when the last of the...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: I have no plans at present to introduce a Scheme to aid the purchase of harvesting machinery for bioenergy crops. In 2007, I introduced a new Bioenergy Scheme offering establishment grants of up to €1,450 per hectare to farmers to plant willow and miscanthus. Some 800 hectares were grant aided in 2007. One of the main advantages of these crops is that harvesting operations can be carried...

Written Answers — Rural Environment Protection Scheme: Rural Environment Protection Scheme (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: I propose to take Questions Nos. 355 and 356 together. REPS is a agri-environmental measure, and for that reason payments to farmers must be costed and justified on the basis of quantifiable environmental benefits that go beyond keeping land in good agricultural and environmental condition and observing the statutory management requirements of the Single Payment Scheme. No element of the...

Written Answers — Cereal Sector: Cereal Sector (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: The concept "conservation agriculture"in the context of tillage undoubtedly embraces at least the principles of minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover with plants or residues and the use of crop rotations and cover crops. Minimal soil disturbance by the use of alternatives to ploughing is increasingly being practised in Ireland. The current Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS...

Written Answers — Afforestation Programme: Afforestation Programme (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: As replanting of the sites in question would not constitute first afforestation they would not be eligible for grant aid.

Written Answers — Animal Importation Licences: Animal Importation Licences (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: Since the beginning of 2008, one import licence has been issued for the importation of three African Elephants from Germany via France to a circus operating in Ireland.

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: A good deal of work has already been undertaken and significant progress has been made on drafting the new Animal Health and Welfare Bill and I intend, very shortly, to initiate a process of public consultation by publishing a consultation paper and inviting submissions from interested parties and other stakeholders. The Bill will be a comprehensive piece of legislation which will, inter...

Written Answers — Budget Submissions: Budget Submissions (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: Frequent informal contacts take place and meetings are held on an ongoing basis between officials in my Department and in the Department of Finance in the preparation of the annual Estimates provisions for the Department. It is also the practice for Ministers to meet with the Minister for Finance in the final stages of the Estimates negotiations. On these occasions, my predecessors were...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: The person named is an applicant under the Farm Waste Management Scheme. His application for payment is currently being examined and a decision will be made in regard to the application as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: The person named has been approved for a REPS 3 payment which will issue within the next ten days.

Written Answers — Agricultural Holdings: Agricultural Holdings (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: The most recent statistics relating to farm numbers are available through the CSO Farm Structures Survey results for 2003 and 2005. The report shows that over that period 2003 to 2005 farm numbers declined at a rate of approximately 1% per annum to 132,500 farms. The reduction in farm numbers is part of an on-going trend, which is common throughout Europe. The rate of decline is lower in...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (8 May 2008)

Brendan Smith: An application under the Single Payment Scheme /Disadvantaged Areas Scheme was received from the person named on the 18th April 2007. As part of the control procedures under EU legislation governing these Schemes, the application was randomly selected for and was the subject of a ground eligibility and animal identification and registration inspection During the course of the ground...