Results 301-320 of 3,336 for speaker:Kate O'Connell

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Accounts of the Public Services
Chapter 9 - Greenhouse Gas-Related Financial Transactions: Discussion (5 Nov 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Yes, but the weighting of the agriculture sector is my concern. I am a representative of people in Ireland. I note from the document that 28% of our emissions are tradeable, while 72% are not. We will be disproportionately affected because we have accepted this variable according to which methane is 25 times more warming than carbon. Methane in its non-broken down form is 25 times more...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Accounts of the Public Services
Chapter 9 - Greenhouse Gas-Related Financial Transactions: Discussion (5 Nov 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I understand that. We produce so much food, yet the emissions trading only applies to slightly more than one quarter of our emissions. I would prefer to have a dinner in front of me than have the lights on. I prefer to have a plate of good food than to have the television on. I am not sure whether we can sell all of this to ordinary people. I think it is deeply flawed. It is...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Accounts of the Public Services
Chapter 9 - Greenhouse Gas-Related Financial Transactions: Discussion (5 Nov 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I thank the witnesses for coming at this late hour. I will follow on from Deputy Cullinane said. It was stated the ETS was being managed. Is it being managed at a European level? Is that what Mr. Brady meant? I am going backwards from where I had intended to start. The big polluters are expected to be managed under the ETS, while everyone else will be subject to a separate metric....

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Accounts of the Public Services
Chapter 9 - Greenhouse Gas-Related Financial Transactions: Discussion (5 Nov 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I know that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Accounts of the Public Services
Chapter 9 - Greenhouse Gas-Related Financial Transactions: Discussion (5 Nov 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I understand that. We had the rural environmental protection scheme and now have the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Accounts of the Public Services
Chapter 9 - Greenhouse Gas-Related Financial Transactions: Discussion (5 Nov 2019)

Kate O'Connell: No, they are not. Deputy Aylward is probably far more knowledgeable in this area than I am, but it is my understanding the REPS which became the GLAS was a rural environmental scheme which had nothing to do with carbon emissions. It involved maintaining hedgerows, wildlife and so on. If money is being given to farmers to benefit from the carbon trapping potential of trees, why is it not...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Accounts of the Public Services
Chapter 9 - Greenhouse Gas-Related Financial Transactions: Discussion (5 Nov 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I know that. I am talking specifically about carbon. Farmers will receive credits to encourage them to plant trees. It is a carbon credit. Why are they not receiving them for grassland and hedgerows? It is the same trick, albeit with different levels or quantities of carbon. I cannot see why the scheme only applies to one species.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Accounts of the Public Services
Chapter 9 - Greenhouse Gas-Related Financial Transactions: Discussion (5 Nov 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Farmers are not-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Accounts of the Public Services
Chapter 9 - Greenhouse Gas-Related Financial Transactions: Discussion (5 Nov 2019)

Kate O'Connell: There are no credits for grassland or hedgerows.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Accounts of the Public Services
Chapter 9 - Greenhouse Gas-Related Financial Transactions: Discussion (5 Nov 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Which are trapping carbon.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Accounts of the Public Services
Chapter 9 - Greenhouse Gas-Related Financial Transactions: Discussion (5 Nov 2019)

Kate O'Connell: They are potentially trapping carbon at a greater rate than particular species of large trees, for which carbon credits are granted. I wonder about this. I have no vested interest, but I become really concerned when I see such differences. Who is gaining? I am not suggesting anyone here is, but why are farmers being encouraged to plant a particular type of tree when so many metres of...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: The beef data and genomics programme, BDGP, is a five-year plan that will run from 2017 to 2022, inclusive. I am a strong supporter of the programme in respect of improving the productivity and health assets of the herd. How does the Department measure its success? How can it measure the impact of breeding programmes and so on in such a short period? Will there be a next phase, and if so,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: In the conversation about the 30% reduction in emissions from agriculture, and in light of the climate emergency, it often seems to be forgotten that we need to eat high-quality food. It seems to be left out of the conversation that the end product of the agricultural sector is the food on supermarket shelves. There is an argument that the only way to reduce emissions is to cull the herd...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: If we make the herd more efficient, we can maintain the herd at the same number while still reducing emissions.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Yes. That seems to have been lost in the earlier conversations but I wanted to make the point. The Department funds Bord Bia.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Has the Department governance over the pathway of the money? Mr. Gleeson mentioned the Food Dudes programme. I am concerned about the impact on primary school children of the narrative to the effect that veganism and plant-based diets are better. Given the Department's role and its funding of Bord Bia, has it any cross-departmental collaborations with the Department of Health, or with the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Does the Department ensure governance of the money that is sent off?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: How does Mr. Gleeson feel about the Origin Green product? This is a plan for marketing Irish food both domestically and abroad that has been brought to my attention. Organic food producers have complained to me about it. The name suggests organic food, and the Origin Green branding often sits beside organic food in international food expos. That is how Bord Bia is marketing our food....

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: What about the domestic market? Imagine a consumer who does not have much time or interest looking at a supermarket shelf. It seems unfair to organic farmers to use the phrase "Origin Green".

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: This is something on which I have received representations and I felt it was important to mention it today. I have an observation on the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP. Food was 30% of household spending in the 1970s. That figure is now between 10% and 15%. Some farmers would argue that we are moving towards an economy based on cheap mass-produced food. What is the Department doing to...