Written Answers Nos. 646-661
646. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will expedite a rural environment protection scheme payment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55502/13]
View answerThe person named commenced REPS 4 in March 2009 and received payments for the first four years of their contract.
REPS 4 is a measure under the current 2007-13 Rural Development Programme and is subject to EU Regulations which require detailed administrative checks on all applications to be completed before any payments can issue. This process has now been completed for 2013 payments and the 75% Year 5 payment amounting to €5632.95 issued for payment on 23 December 2013. The remaining 25% balancing payment will issue shortly.
647. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the annual costs of renting the DVO building in Tullamore; if it makes sense that the building in Mullingar is owned by the Office of Public Works; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55506/13]
View answerThe Office of Public Works (OPW) has primary responsibility for the provision of accommodation to my Department. I can confirm that the buildings referred to in Tullamore and Mullingar are both State owned and form part of the OPW’s property portfolio and accordingly, my Department does not incur any rents.
648. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding a rural environment protection scheme payment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo; if the payment will be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55514/13]
View answerThe person named commenced REPS 4 in May 2008 and received payments for the first four years of their contract.
REPS 4 is a measure under the current 2007-13 Rural Development Programme and is subject to EU Regulations which require detailed administrative checks on all applications to be completed before any payments can issue. Following the Land Parcel Identification (LPIS) Review an area discrepancy was identified. This issue is currently being investigated and the Department will notify the person named of the outcome.
649. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the savings made by his Department since the closing of the DVO office in Longford, the agricultural environment structures office in Athlone and the DVO in Mullingar in July 2009 by the then Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55526/13]
View answerLocal Office reorganisation in Longford, Athlone and Mullingar has led to the redeployment of 27 staff to date. The first redeployments occurred in 2007 and redeployment continued up to and including 2012. Savings made by my Department through redeployment from these three offices, in terms of salary, overtime, employer PRSI and overhead costs, are estimated to be €4.75m up to the end of 2013.
650. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason farmers are struggling to get information from his Department on the reason their REP scheme and single farm payments for 2013 have been delayed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55528/13]
View answerPayments under the 2013 Single Payment Scheme commenced, on schedule, on 16 October and, to date, payments worth €1,182,653,799 have issued nationally, to 121,783 applicants. This represents 99% of all eligible applicants. Payments continue to issue on outstanding cases as queries are resolved.
Payments under the 2013 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme commenced, on schedule, on 25 September and, to date, payments worth €194,304,465 have issued nationally, to some 91,502 applicants, with payments continuing to issue on a twice weekly basis, with individual cases being paid as they are confirmed eligible.
Payments under the Grassland Sheep Scheme commenced on 11 December with payments worth €13,569,706 issuing to some 27,723 applicants. Again payments are continuing to issue as individual cases are confirmed eligible.
Well publicised Lo-call help-lines are available to assist those with queries on outstanding issues.
Area-based schemes under the Rural Development Programme, 2007-13, are subject to EU Regulations which require detailed administrative checks on all applications, including cross checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, to be completed before payments can issue. These rigorous procedures, together with on-farm inspections, apply to a number of scheme payments including the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) and are necessary to ensure that applications meet the scheme conditions and cross-compliance requirements.
At this stage 20,142 REPS 4 farmers have received 100% of their REPS4 2013 payment. A further 2,537 participants have received 75% of their payment and will receive their remaining 25% shortly. A total of €123.28m has been paid to in relation to the 2013 REPS4 payments.
Queries with regard to the remaining cases are being dealt with where participants have received queries from the local AES office and they should reply as soon as possible to allow payment to be made.
651. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding the future of the white fish sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55554/13]
View answerMy overarching goal for the Irish Fishing Industry and for white fish dedicated fishermen is to ensure that we build a sustainable, profitable and self reliant fishing industry which protects and enhances the social and economic fabric of rural coastal communities dependent on the seafood sector. I believe that this can be achieved in the context of the reformed EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) which places long term sustainability at its core. The reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was secured after many months of extremely complex negotiations with the European Parliament and is a significant achievement of the Irish EU Presidency. This radical reform will support the rebuilding of fish stocks in our waters as Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and quotas are set to deliver maximum sustainable yield by 2015, where possible and by 2020 for all stocks and the wasteful practice of discarding fish is phased out. In order to support the introduction of the obligation to land all catches, the reform provides that where the discards ban is introduced, TACs and quotas will be fixed taking into account the change from setting TACs that reflect landings to setting them to reflect catches on the basis that for the first and subsequent years, discarding of that stock will no longer be allowed.
The whitefish quotas agreed at the December Fisheries Council involves a reduction from 36,674 tonnes to 33,266 tonnes for 2014. While some of the quotas for whitefish stocks were reduced in the Celtic Sea, this reflected the scientific advice of poor recruitment into the stocks of cod, haddock and whiting, the cuts were required to take account of the scientific advice. I opposed a proposal from the EU Commission for a 24% reduction in the economically important prawn (nephrops) quota in the Irish Sea and off the south and west coast. I sought a roll over of the nephrops TAC and in the final outcome negotiated the Commission proposed 24% cut down to a 9% reduction which while not welcome reflected a more balanced recognition of the scientific concerns about the state of stock in certain areas. For other whitefish stocks such as the economically important hake and monkfish, significantly increased quotas were secured reflecting the positive scientific advice for these stocks. In addition, part of the whitefish fleet operating in the Celtic Sea will benefit from the increase of 30% in the Celtic Sea herring quota, the 14% increase in the albacore tuna quota and the expected increase in the mackerel quota.
While I am conscious that the available whitefish quotas for our fishing fleet were reduced for 2014, the level of the cuts agreed at the EU Fisheries Council were significantly below those proposed by the EU Commission. While the reduction in available whitefish quotas will impact on some vessels dependant on whitefish catches, I have over the past two years been pursuing a strategy to increase value added in the seafood sector and this strategy, implemented through BIM, is intended to support Irish fishermen to maximise the value of their catch and present top quality fish to prime markets. Significant opportunity exists for improvement in this area and BIM is assisting the industry to be more innovative; to improve product quality and other standards; to develop environmental management systems (EMS); and to engage in accreditation programmes that lead towards recognised and accepted eco labels and responsible fishing brands. BIM will continue to support, in 2014, the industry to achieve these objectives.
652. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding 50:50 co-funding for rural development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55555/13]
View answerThe development of a new Rural Development Programme (RDP) under Pillar 2 of the new Common Agricultural Policy will be a key support in enhancing the competitiveness of the agrifood sector, achieving more sustainable management of natural resources and ensuring a more balanced development of rural areas.
Support for the new RDP, 2014-2020 will be co-funded by the European Union via the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the national Exchequer. A general EU co-financing rate of 53% is set out in the Rural Development Regulation but this rate may rise to a maximum of 80% for measures such as farm and business development, co-operation activities, and LEADER projects. Environmental type measures may be co-funded up to 75%.
While an EU allocation of €2,190million is available to Ireland, €2,037 million of this is allocated to measures to be delivered via the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The remaining €153 million of the EU funding is allocated to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government for the delivery of measures via the LEADER mechanism.
I have recently announced that an overall national co-financing rate of 46% will be applied to the measures under the RDP to be delivered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. A total fund of €3.94bn will be available over the lifetime of the new RDP for the measures to be delivered via the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
653. Deputy John O'Mahony asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive their agri-environment options scheme 1 payment; the reason for the delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55559/13]
View answerThe person named was approved for participation in the Agri-Environment Options Scheme with effect from 1 September 2010 and full payments have issued in respect of the 2010, 2011 2012 and 2013 Scheme years.
654. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for the varying BVD test results for one animal (details supplied) in County Mayo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55579/13]
View answerFor the purposes of the national BVD eradication programme promoted by Animal Health Ireland (AHI) - a herdowner can submit a blood sample to DAFM Laboratories to confirm a persistently infected (PI) status in calves that have received an initial positive result on tissue tag testing. The confirmatory test is performed on a blood sample submitted by a private veterinary practitioner to the Sligo Regional Veterinary Laboratory accompanied by a form which is issued to the herdowner by ICBF. The form indicates that a re-test of an animal sampled under the BVD programme is required and certifies the identity of the animals sampled.
These blood samples are tested using an antigen detection ELISA test. In view of the fact samples taken from young PI calves can give rise to a false negative result on the ELISA test due to interference by antibodies derived from the dam, a second test method (PCR) is applied to those samples from animals less than 60 days old which give a negative ELISA test result.
With regard to the BVD test in question, DAFM laboratories received four samples from the herdowner’s private veterinary practitioner on 18 April 2013. These samples were not accompanied by the paperwork required under the BVD programme and there was no reference to the BVD eradication programme, animal type or the age of the animals etc., with the samples. In view of this, the samples were deemed to have been submitted for routine diagnostic testing and were tested by ELISA only. Since they tested negative, the PCR test was not applied. The sample for the animal in question gave a negative ELISA result and this was reported to the herdowner through his private veterinary practitioner.
In October 2013 the herdowner presented the animal for sale and was informed that the second result was not a valid re-test in compliance with the BVD programme and that, as a consequence the results had not been transferred to ICBF. The private veterinary practitioner subsequently submitted a further blood sample to DAFM, though the BVD programme accompanied by the required ICBF submission form. This blood sample was then tested using both ELISA and PCR and the result of the test was positive.
655. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding single farm payment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo; when the payment will be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55582/13]
View answerAs processing of the application received from the person named under the 2013 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme/Single Payment Scheme has recently been finalised, payments under both schemes are due to issue in to the person named in the coming days, directly to the nominated bank account.
656. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an assurance that a new agri-environmental scheme will start in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1099/14]
View answerThe process for the design of new schemes under the new CAP is well underway. Under the current draft Rural Development Regulation, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine must undertake an ex ante evaluation, a public consultation, a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) a needs assessment, a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and an appropriate assessment (AA) in developing our Rural Development Programme. An independent evaluator has been contracted to prepare the ex-ante evaluation report, SEA and AA and to advise on the SWOT analysis.
An initial consultation process was launched in 2012, and written submissions were received from over 80 stakeholders. These submissions have been analysed by my Department and have fed into the development of the SWOT and needs analyses. A second consultation was held in July, where stakeholders attended a full day workshop on the draft SWOT and needs analyses. Based on the outcome of these processes, the drafting of the new programme is being advanced in the Department, and it is intended that further stakeholder consultation will form part of this.
Yesterday I announced proposals for a new agri-environment scheme GLAS (Green Low-carbon Agri-environment Scheme).
Formal proposals must now be drafted, in consultation with various stakeholders for submission to the European Commission. It is my intention to prioritise this work in order to gain EU approval at the earliest possible date to facilitate roll out of the new GLAS scheme.
657. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an assurance that a new farm modernisation scheme will be introduced in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1100/14]
View answerThe new EU policy framework for rural development for the 2014-2020 period has now been finalised. In the determination of the farm sectors in which investment aid will be made available in the new rural development programme, I will be examining all options and consulting relevant stakeholders to ensure that the maximum benefit is derived from the financial resources which will be available.
The date of introduction of any new investment schemes will be dependent on a number of factors, including the requirement to obtain EU Commission approval for the programme concerned.
658. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the low-cost selling of vegetables (details supplied). [1125/14]
View answerMy Department is anxious to ensure the continued viability of the maximum number of vegetable producers in the country. Clearly the price obtained by producers is enormously important to their viability.
However, my Department has no involvement in setting prices for agricultural or horticultural products. This is primarily a matter between the producer and the retailer.
However, recognising that there are concerns regarding the relationships between suppliers and the retail sector, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has been drafting legislation to provide for new rules of conduct for the grocery trade which I understand they intend to introduce in the current Dáil session.
659. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív den Aire Talmhaíochta, Bia agus Mara cén fáth nach bhfuil íocaíocht faoin Scéim Íocaíochta Aonair déanta do 2013 le feirmeoir i gContae na Gaillimhe (sonraí leis seo), cén fáth go bhfuil moill ar an íocaíocht seo; agus an ndéanfaidh sé ráiteas ina thaobh. [1129/14]
View answerNíl aon taifead ag mo Roinn ar iarratas faoin Scéim um Limistéir faoi Mhíbhuntáiste/Scéim na hAoníocaíochta 2013 a fháil ón duine ainmnithe.
Bhí clúdach litreach réamhsheolta le lipéad Swiftpost greamaithe air in éineacht le gach iarratas ar an Scéim Íocaíochta Aonair a sheol mo Roinn amach in 2013 agus faigheann an t-úinéir tréada admháil ó Oifig an Phoist nuair a sheolann sé/sí é. Más féidir leis an duine ainmnithe cruthúnas postais nó cruthúnas ar phost cláraithe a sholáthar nó míniú cuí-réasúnaithe a thabhairt, déanfaidh mo Roinn athbhreithniú ar an gcás bunaithe ar an eolas agus an gcáipéisíocht a chuirtear isteach.
660. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to the reply to Parliamentary Question No. 296 of 19 December 2013 in which he stated that he is not required to notify objectors to the Galway Bay fish farm of his decision not to make a determination within any timeframe because the legislation requiring him to do so, section 13 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997, has not been commenced, given that the elected Members of the Oireachtas passed into law an Act that placed this obligation on the Minister more than 16 years ago, if he has frustrated the constitutional, sole and exclusive power of making laws vested in the Oireachtas by Article 15 of the Constitution and so undermined the constitutional rights of the Oireachtas. [1177/14]
View answer661. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 296 of 19 December 2013 in which he stated that he is not required to notify objectors to the Galway Bay fish farm of his decision not to make a determination within any timeframe because the legislation passed by the Oireachtas in 1997 requiring him to do so, section 13 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997, has not been commenced by the Executive branch of the Government, the way this accords with the Government's claim in 2013 that Ireland, upon signing, had ensured the transposition of the obligations under the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, the Aarhus Convention, and if he will, without delay, commence this legislation to accord with Ireland's obligations under this UN treaty. [1178/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 660 and 661 together.
The Aarhus Convention sets out in detail the obligations arising in relation to the availability and provision of environmental information. I am satisfied that my Department is fully compliant in this regard.
The commencement of Section 13 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997 is a matter which is kept under ongoing review by my Department in light of recent advances and development in environmental legislation. I wish to refer the Deputy to the Aquaculture (Licence Applications) Regulations 1998 as amended and the European Union (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Aquaculture) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No 410 of 2012) which I believe address the Deputy’s concerns.
