Tuesday, 11 Jun 2013

Written Answers Nos. 791 - 805

Hare Coursing

Questions (791, 802, 809)

Maureen O'Sullivan

Question:

791. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to statements made by vets as presented in the recent ICABS report, that during cold and wet weather, hares are subjected to health conditions such as pneumonia, pleurisy, peritonitis consistent with septicemia and bacterial infections which compromise their chances of survival during hare coursing meetings; if, in view of this report, he will consider a ban on hare coursing during such adverse weather conditions to ensure that hares have a maximum chance of survival; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26811/13]

Maureen O'Sullivan

Question:

802. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the statistics collected by ICABS of hare coursing deaths at coursing meetings monitored by the National Parks and Wildlife Service; if he has noted one ranger's account at Liscannor coursing meeting that healthy hares are kept as substitutes in the event of hares becoming injured; if he considers the number of deaths, injuries and euthanasia as constituting a high number; if this contradicts the notion that hare coursing is a non-fatal activity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27008/13]

Clare Daly

Question:

809. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will intervene with the organisers of the hare coursing event in Murrintow in Wexford, last December, where sick and injured hares where released into the wild without veterinary intervention in contravention of the 1911 Protection of Animals Act. [27546/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

I propose to take Questions Nos. 791, 802 and 809 together.

Under the provisions of the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958 the regulation of coursing is chiefly a matter for the Irish Coursing Club (ICC) subject to the general control and direction of Bord na gCon, which is the statutory body with responsibility for the improvement and development of the greyhound industry, greyhound racing and coursing. The ICC has a system of regulation in place to underpin standards in coursing.

Under the terms of the Wildlife Acts, a licence is needed by the ICC, covering their affiliated coursing clubs, if they wish to capture or tag live hares. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, under section 24 of the Wildlife Act 1976, has responsibility for the issue of an annual licence to the ICC and its affiliated clubs to capture live hares. These licences currently have a total of 26 conditions attached to them. Conditions of the licences cover a range of items, including provision of data on hare captures and releases, not coursing hares more than once per day, not coursing sick or injured hares, etc.

The ICC ensures that a veterinary surgeon and a control steward are present at all coursing meetings. In addition to this, veterinary staff from my Department and rangers from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (part of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht) carry out random monitoring inspections during the coursing season to verify compliance with the licences and the rules governing animal welfare.

As a further control, a Monitoring Committee on Coursing was established during the 1993/94 coursing season and is comprised of officials from my Department and representatives from both the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the ICC to monitor developments in coursing and in that regard the situation is kept under constant review to ensure that coursing is run in a well controlled and responsible manner in the interest of animal both for hares and greyhounds alike.

A very high proportion (98.09%) of the hares captured for hare coursing were returned to the wild at the end of the 2012/2013 season.

The matters that you have brought to my attention will be considered at the next meeting of the Monitoring Committee on Coursing.

Forestry Premium Payments

Questions (792)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

792. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a forestry premium payment will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26878/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

To ensure that his plantation is brought up to the standard required under the afforestation scheme, the applicant was instructed to carry out the remedial works outlined as necessary in the management plan that he submitted to the Forest Service. The applicant reported the works as completed on 30 April 2013 and, on this basis, the plantation was referred to the Forest Service inspector for his report. The inspector will complete his inspection in the coming weeks, but no further payments will be made until the site is certified as up to Forest Service standard.

Proposed Legislation

Questions (793)

Andrew Doyle

Question:

793. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if consideration has been given in the Forestry Bill 2013 regarding the impact that trucks of more than 40 tonnes are having on regional and local roads in a particular county (details supplied) in considering that during the previous Forestry Act 1946 which this legislation is repealing, that the weight of trucks on roads more than half a century ago was significantly lower; if his attention has been drawn to the financial impact this is having on local authorities in view of their limited budgets for road repairs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26936/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The impact of heavy vehicles on the road network is a matter for regulation by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport under the Roads Act. It is not appropriate to the Forestry Bill, 2013, which deals explicitly with issues relating to forestry.

Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations

Questions (794)

Andrew Doyle

Question:

794. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if special cases will be made in the ongoing Common Agricultural Policy negotiations for small islands situated in EU member states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26958/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The Commission proposals for CAP reform do not make special provisions for small islands situated in the EU. In the course of negotiations to agree a general approach of the Council a small number of Member States made a case for special treatment for small islands in relation to various aspects of the reform, notably in regard to rural development measures. However this was firmly resisted by the EU Commission and the majority of Member States.

Disadvantaged Areas Scheme Eligibility

Questions (795)

Áine Collins

Question:

795. Deputy Áine Collins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a substantial number of applicants were refused grants under the 2012 disadvantaged areas scheme due to the fact that stocking requirements changed during that period and many of those refused were not aware of the new regulations; his views on whether they should receive a derogation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27001/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

It will be recalled that, arising from the 2012 budgetary process, savings needed to be found in my Department’s expenditure. Accordingly, it was necessary to adjust the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme. However, rather than simply apply an across the board cut to the rates payable or reduce the maximum payable area, I decided that real efforts should be made to focus the Scheme on those farmers who are most actively contributing to achieving the aims of the Scheme, namely:

- ensuring continued agricultural land use, thereby contributing to the maintenance of viable rural communities;

- maintaining the countryside; and

- maintaining and promoting sustainable farming systems, which take account of environmental protection measures.

At the same time, I was also determined that those adversely affected by the 2012 changes should be afforded the opportunity to appeal, where they could show legitimate reasons for their inability to meet the new requirements. In total, my Department wrote to in excess of 10,000 beneficiaries under the 2011 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme whose holdings had not achieved the minimum stocking density of 0.3 livestock units per forage hectare, as required under the Terms and Conditions of the 2012 Scheme. These appeals have largely been processed, with the residue of cases expected to be finalised in the coming weeks.

It will be seen, therefore, that those adversely affected by the changes to the 2012 Scheme Terms and Conditions were afforded reasonable access to an appeal process; where initial derogation appeals were unsuccessful, the farmers concerned were advised of the right of appeal to the independently-chaired DAS Appeals Committee, with recourse ultimately to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Aquaculture Licences Applications

Questions (796)

Joe McHugh

Question:

796. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will update Dáil Éireann on the proposal to develop deep sea fish farms, prospective sites for which have been approved by the Marine Institute and Bord Iascaigh Mhara; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26986/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) has submitted an application for an aquaculture licence for the cultivation of finfish near Inis Oirr in Galway Bay. The application and its accompanying Environmental Impact Statement is currently being considered in accordance with the provisions of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act.

My Department has also issued a Site Investigation Licence to BIM in respect of potential sites off the Mayo coast.

I also understand that BIM is currently engaged in preliminary work with a view to a possible application to my Department for a Site Investigation Licence for an area off the coast of Donegal.

Harbours and Piers Expenditure

Questions (797)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

797. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the plans he has to establish a small craft harbour in Killybegs, County Donegal; the total amount of funding allocated by his Department to the project; the estimated schedule for completion of the project; the size of the proposed harbour; the estimated number of crafts that will be facilitated in the harbour; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27023/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Killybegs Fishery Harbour Centre is one of the six designated Fishery Harbour Centres, which are owned, managed and maintained by my Department.

I am aware of the many potential benefits of a small craft facility at this location, including the spinoff for the local economy, and I have allocated funding of €20,000 under the 2013 Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme to advance this project. I have asked my Department officials to set out a design and strategy to build the Small Craft Harbour in stages to meet demand while remaining cognisant of the current funding constraints while delivering the first phase at the earliest opportunity.

Aquaculture Development

Questions (798)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

798. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has considered the strategic guidelines as recently presented by the European Commission with respect to challenges facing the aquaculture sector; his views on these strategic guidelines; the impact of these guidelines in resolving the current delays by the Department in processing aquaculture licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27024/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The document referred to by the Deputy is under active consideration by my Department at present.

In relation to the delays in processing aquaculture licences, in 2007 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) declared in Case C418/04 that by failing to take all measures necessary to comply with Article 6.3 of the EU Habitats Directive in respect of the authorisation of aquaculture programmes, Ireland had failed to fulfil its obligations under that Directive. As most aquaculture activity takes place in ‘Natura 2000’ areas it is necessary to undertake an ‘Appropriate Assessment’ of the effects of aquaculture activity on these areas before any new licences can be issued or any existing licences can be renewed.

In the negotiations to address the ECJ judgement a process was agreed with the European Commission. This process includes the following steps:

- Data Collection in 91 Bays/Estuaries

- Detailed analysis of the raw data collected

- Setting of Conservation Objectives by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in respect of each site

- Carrying out Appropriate Assessments (AA) – by the Marine Institute - of aquaculture/fishery activities against the detailed Conservation Objectives set, and

- Determination of Licences/Fisheries on the basis of the Appropriate Assessment and other relevant factors.

Conservation Objectives have now been set for a significant number of bays. The appropriate assessments are being carried out by the Marine Institute on behalf of the Department and to date four bays have been assessed - Castlemaine, Dundalk, Roaringwater and Lough Swilly. Licence determinations have been made in the case of Castlemaine.

My Department continues to make every effort to expedite the determination of aquaculture licence applications having regard to the legal, scientific and technical complexities involved.

Aquaculture Development

Questions (799)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

799. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the current rate of growth of the Irish Aquaculture sector; the current value of Irish aquaculture production; the percentage of EU seafood consumption which comes from Irish aquaculture; the percentage of Irish seafood consumption which comes from Irish aquaculture; the supports in place by his Department to further develop the Irish aquaculture sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27025/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

I am informed by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) that there are no official statistics addressing some of the questions raised by the Deputy. BIM estimate that the value of aquaculture output rose by approximately 30% between 2003 and 2012 to €133 million. BIM also estimate that approximately 0.4% of EU seafood consumption may have been supplied by Irish aquaculture in 2007 (most recent year for which data is available), while the figure for the domestic market may be in the region of 8%. Ireland exports approximately 80% of its aquaculture output.

A suite of support programmes are made available through BIM and Údarás na Gaeltachta for the development of the aquaculture sector. Grants of up to 40%, co-funded by the European Fisheries Fund, are available for capital investment under the Commercial Aquaculture Development Scheme. Some €2.5 million is available for this Scheme in 2013. BIM provides ongoing technical, business and specialist advice to aquaculture operators to assist their development.

Fishing Industry Development

Questions (800)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

800. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total amount of funding invested by Bord Iascaigh Mhara in Killybegs, County Donegal, in each of the past five years for the purposes of job creation; the mechanisms in place to ensure compliance with any conditions upon which the funding was contingent; the total number of jobs created by the investments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27026/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

BIM is an independent statutory body, and the Deputy has requested details concerning specific operational matters.

I have referred the Deputy’s question to BIM and asked them to provide information on these matters directly to the Deputy.

Farm Inspections

Questions (801)

Patrick O'Donovan

Question:

801. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide in tabular form by county and by month the number of unannounced farm inspections that have taken place since 1 January 2013. [27079/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

My Department, in the context of delivering the Single Payment Scheme and Disadvantaged Areas’ Scheme is required to carry out an annual round of inspections covering both the eligibility of the land declared to draw down payments and also cross compliance aspects, to ensure compliance with EU regulatory requirements in the areas of public, animal and plant health, environment and animal welfare. These inspections are mandatory and there are certain minimum numbers and types of inspections that must take place annually. In addition, my Department undertakes Nitrates inspections under the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) regulations on behalf of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government on an inter-Agency agreement.

Insofar as notice of farm inspections under the Single Payment and Disadvantaged Areas Schemes is concerned, in general, all inspections should be unannounced. However, the regulations allow my Department to give up to 14 days notice for land eligibility and cross-compliance inspections involving Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) other than those related to animal identification and registration, food, feed, and animal welfare. For checks involving cattle/sheep identification and registration, the maximum advance notice is 48 hours. For SMRs dealing with feed, food and animal welfare, no advance notice may be given and these inspections must take place on an un-announced basis. Where it is considered that the purpose of any type of inspection may be jeopardized by giving notice, the inspection will take place on an un-announced basis.

As a general rule and following requests from the farming organisations, my Department tries to integrate inspections, including all of the cross-compliance inspection elements, with a view to minimising the number of farm visits and avoiding more than one visit to the farm. However, this obviously has implications for the ability to give notice; however, in a given case, a farmer who is subject to an unannounced, combined inspection, can request that the part for which advance notice is possible be postponed (in the case of animal identification for up to 48 hours and up to 14 days in the case of land eligibility) – of necessity, however, this will require the inspector to go on to the farm again.

The following table provides a breakdown, by county and by month, of the number of unannounced inspections under the Single Payment and Disadvantaged Areas Schemes and the Nitrates (GAP) inspections in the period January to May 2013. These 39 inspections equate to 0.95% of the overall total of 4,104 inspections undertaken in this period.

County	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May
Carlow	0	0	0	0	0
Cavan	0	0	0	0	0
Clare	0	0	0	0	1
Cork	0	0	0	0	1
Donegal	5	1	2	0	0
Dublin	0	0	0	0	0
Galway	0	0	0	0	0
Kerry	0	0	0	0	0
Kildare	1	0	4	0	0
Kilkenny	0	0	1	0	0
Laois	0	0	0	0	0
Leitrim	0	0	0	0	0
Limerick	0	1	0	1	0
Longford	0	0	0	0	0
Louth	0	0	0	0	0
Mayo	3	2	0	0	1
Meath	0	0	0	0	1
Monaghan	0	0	0	0	0
Offaly	0	0	0	0	0
Roscommon	0	0	2	3	1
Sligo	0	0	0	0	0
Tipperary	0	0	4	2	1
Waterford	0	0	0	0	0
Westmeath	0	0	0	0	0
Wexford	0	0	0	0	0
Wicklow	0	1	0	0	0
Total	9	5	13	6	6

The number of unannounced inspections in relation to other Departmental schemes that include on farm investments schemes, feed hygiene schemes and rural environmental protection scheme (REPS 4) can be found in the table below. It should be noted that there were no unannounced inspection in relation to the Agri-environment Options Scheme (AEOS) for this time period and that my Department suspended routine feed hygiene farm inspections for the 6 week period 25/04/13 to 13/05/13 due to the fodder crisis.

County	January	February	March	April	May
Carlow		2			1
Cavan			1	9
Clare				1
Cork		3		36
Donegal				2	6
Dublin				6	1
Galway			1	7	18
Kerry				5
Kildare				11	2
Kilkenny		1		19	19
Laois				12
Leitrim				1
Limerick				5	1
Longford				7
Louth			2	1
Mayo		4			17
Meath				3
Monaghan			2
Offaly				2
Roscommon		1		6	5
Sligo				5	1
Tipperary		2	1		6
Waterford				1	12
Westmeath				2	2
Wexford		1	2	5
Wicklow			2
TOTAL	0	14	11	146	91

Question No. 802 answered with Question No. 791.

Disadvantaged Areas Scheme Applications

Questions (803)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

803. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the disadvantaged area scheme payment will issue in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry following their successful appeal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27417/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The person named is one of a number of applicants under the 2012 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme, whose cases were impacted by the requirement of a minimum stocking density of 0.3 livestock units per forage hectare in 2011 and who applied for and were refused derogation in this regard.

The applicant subsequently availed of the option to appeal to the independently chaired DAS Appeals Committee. My Department has recently been advised of the successful outcome of this appeal and the person concerned notified accordingly, in writing. Processing of the application has also since been finalised with payment issuing directly into the nominated bank account on 5 June 2013.

EU Directives

Questions (804)

Andrew Doyle

Question:

804. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the work his Department is currently undertaking on various pieces of upcoming legislation, through a potential Bill to go through the Houses of the Oireachtas or through Statutory Instrument, to ensure Ireland is in compliance with the upcoming deadlines of Directives from the European Union; the deadline in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27467/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The following is the position regarding upcoming legislation in relation to EU Directives, for which my Department has responsibility, which are due to be transposed by end 2013:

Directive title/number	Transposition Deadline	Current position
Directive 2012/12/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 April 2012 amending Council Directive 2001/112/EC relating to fruit juices and certain similar products intended for human consumption	28/10/2013	SI being drafted.
Commission Directive 2012/24/EU of 8 October 2012 amending, for the purpose of adapting its technical provisions, Council Directive 86/297/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the power take-offs of tractors and their protection	01/11/2013	SI being drafted.
Commission Implementing Directive 2012/37/EU of 22 November 2012 amending certain Annexes of Council Directives 66/401/EEC and 66/402/EEC as regards the conditions to be satisfied by the seed of Galega orientalis Lam., the maximum weight of a seed lot of certain fodder plant species and the sample size of Sorghum spp.	31/12/2013	This directive requires 2 SI’s which are being drafted.

Dairy Hygiene Scheme Eligibility

Questions (805)

Billy Kelleher

Question:

805. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is a provision, or if one can be made under the dairy hygiene grant to allow for emergency works for milk cooling systems to be done retrospectively for small works such as compressors and milk bulk tanks due to the nature of the process and the time constraints on farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27518/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Only work which is commenced after the date of issue of approval by my Department is eligible for grant-aid under the TAMS Dairy Equipment Scheme. I have no plans at present to amend this provision, which is common to all my Department’s on-farm investment schemes.