Results 161-173 of 173 for 5 million speaker:Michael Creed

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Agrifood Sector (8 Jun 2016)

Michael Creed: ...will be outside Europe in the years ahead. I believe we have to negotiate better access and become more committed to those markets where growth will occur in the future. Indeed, Food Wise 2025 highlights the need to expand current markets and develop new ones if we are to achieve the potential growth that the strategy foresees over the next ten years. This is true also of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (8 Jun 2016)

Michael Creed: The UK is by far our largest single trading partner. According to CSO figures, in 2015 we exported almost €5.1 billion worth of agricultural products and imports from the UK were worth €3.8 billion. The prospect of a UK vote to leave the EU therefore has serious implications for the agrifood sector. That is borne out in the reports that have been produced in recent months on...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Genomics Scheme (8 Jun 2016)

Michael Creed: Firstly it is important to say that I am satisfied with the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) participation rates. The BDGP was launched on 5 May 2015 and forms a part of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme that runs from 2014 to 2020. The programme has funding of €300 million euro over its lifespan and builds on previous investment in suckler farming through schemes...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Artisan Food Sector (8 Jun 2016)

Michael Creed: The artisan and speciality food sector in Ireland was valued at c €632 million in 2014 including €462 million in this jurisdiction, with over 350 producers employing more than 3,000 people. Evidence suggests that the sector can have a significant impact on local economies as businesses are typically owner managed and may be closely linked to local farms. The FoodWise 2025...

Building on Recovery: Statements (7 Oct 2015)

Michael Creed: ...programme must be related to the relative position of the public finances. It is true to say the public finances have improved, but we are certainly not out of the woods. We still spend €5 billion more than we earn on an annual basis. If we continue to improve the public finances through prudent management it may be possible to add some additional projects in a mid-term review....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)

Michael Creed: ...profit from the asset disposals? It may be wrong to say the representatives did not have this information at hand, and part of it may be in the answers submitted, but I refer to the bottom of page 5 of the document submitted prior to the meeting, which states that to the end of June 2014 NAMA had sold debtor loans with a nominal par value in excess of €12.5 billion, and with regard...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform Plan: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (22 Nov 2012)

Michael Creed: ...be seen as box-ticking. From recent personal experience, I am irked by the difficulty one has in arranging a parent-teacher meeting outside school hours. Despite teachers working an additional 2 million hours nationally, the number of contact hours has not increased in most primary and secondary schools. It appears that teachers are starting the working day earlier with a meeting or...

Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Bill 2010 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Jan 2011)

Michael Creed: ...of the local post office. That goes to the kernel of the debate. I acknowledge that the financial position in which An Post finds itself is quite precarious. Any company that turns over €800 million but makes a profit of only €5 million is not in a comfortable position. The volume of mail being delivered is falling year on year, due to the downturn and due to new technologies and...

Corporation Tax Rate: Motion (23 Nov 2010)

Michael Creed: I commend Deputy Noonan and his colleagues on the Fine Gael Front Bench on introducing this timely motion. The biggest crisis the country faces relates to the fact that 450,000 people are unemployed. The taxation system, whether it be the part which relates to income tax or that which relates to corporation profits tax, is critical to whether people remain in employment, whether new...

Grant Payments. (29 Apr 2010)

Michael Creed: The Minister's credibility with the sheep farming community is at an all-time low. Even the €7 million promised for upland farmers has not been paid in full to date, never mind the €27 million promised in May 2007, which was a figment of Fianna Fáil's imagination in the lead-up to the election. We are where we are in terms of the national economy and its finances because the stock...

Forestry (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Dec 2009)

Michael Creed: ...on that basis. There should be a sound strategic investment behind the vast majority of any borrowings. The amendment proposes that Coillte should only have temporary borrowings of up to 25% of the total maximum borrowings and that if the company wishes to exceed €100 million of temporary borrowings, it must have the express approval of Dáil Éireann. I believe this is a very...

Agriculture: Motion (2 Dec 2008)

Michael Creed: ...the Government amendment to the motion. If the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Smith, wishes to engage in a debate on the CAP health check, the proposals to take an additional 5% in modulation fees from single farm payments or his abject failure, in the aftermath of that health check, to deal with the sheep farmers who have been camped outside his Department for a...

Fishing Industry: Statements (19 Jun 2008)

Michael Creed: I welcome this opportunity to address the crisis in the fishing industry in advance of next week's meeting of the Council of Ministers. It is appropriate that an industry worth €750 million to the Irish economy and employing approximately 12,000 should be afforded proper political scrutiny and attention. It is worth pointing out also that it is an industry located substantially, though...