Written Answers Nos. 95-103
95. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the criteria chosen for the selection of Athlone, Letterkenny and Waterford by the Industrial Development Agency Ireland to develop new property solutions in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36367/14]
View answerAs part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014, we are bringing a particular focus to regional job creation and are delivering a range of measures to support this goal.
One such measure is that IDA Ireland has agreed contracts for delivery of two new building developments in Athlone and Waterford with construction completion dates of November 2014. Both buildings are expected to be completed by November 2014. The two new building developments will be suitable for future IDA Ireland client investments from a number of potential sectors. Additionally, IDA Ireland has supported the development of office space in Letterkenny in order to support potential investment wins and associated job creation opportunities. Private developers are currently on site and the building is under construction.
In the current economic climate coupled with the limited availability of funding for all capital projects, investment must be targeted to potential investment wins and associated job creation opportunities. IDA Ireland has assured me that it will continue to assess the requirements in other regional locations on an ongoing basis.
96. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the total moneys spent to date by the Industrial Development Agency Ireland on a property (details supplied) in County Mayo; the reason there has been no development on the site; if the site was considered as part of the IDA capital plan for 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36368/14]
View answerI am informed by IDA Ireland that since 2008, the Agency owns c.11 hectares (c.28 acres) of industrial zoned land on the Sligo Road, Ballina, Co. Mayo.
IDA Ireland carried out limited site treatment works on the site in 2010. These works involved some limited boundary fencing, cultivation, planting and general low level landscaping focusing on the site boundaries. The total expenditure on these works, which also included the demolition and environmental disposal of materials relating to a former derelict house, was in the region of €60,000 excluding VAT.
The IDA Ireland lands are concept master planned and planning permission has been obtained.
IDA Ireland provides property solutions to potential client of both IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland client companies, but while IDA Ireland seeks to influence the selection of location, the final decision on where a company visits and invests in is made by the company in a location that best meets its requirements.
In relation to property construction, IDA Ireland policy is to pursue public/private partnerships, where possible. In 2014, as in the past number of years, the private sector, in many locations, has been unable to deliver appropriate property solutions to meet the needs of foreign direct investment (both existing and new), IDA Ireland has intervened and is currently constructing a 2,674m2 manufacturing building in Waterford and in Athlone. A private developer is constructing a 2,000m2 office building on IDA Ireland’s Park in Letterkenny.
In the current economic climate coupled with the limited availability of funding for all capital projects, investment must be targeted to potential investment wins and associated job creation opportunities. IDA Ireland has assured me that it will continue to assess the requirements in other regional locations on an ongoing basis.
I should like to remind the Deputy that 2014 was a good year for Ballina with Hollister announcing in June last a major expansion project with an investment of €65m and the creation of an additional 250 new jobs at their premises in Ballina.
97. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if a work permit will issue in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Carlow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36410/14]
View answerThere is no record in my Department of a work permit application in respect of the person named by the Deputy. There is no record of a work permit having previously been held by this person.
98. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the position regarding a work permit in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36428/14]
View answerThe decision to revoke the permit of the person named by the Deputy was based on evidence supplied to my Department that the employee had not been getting the remuneration stated on his employment permit and which was the basis for granting of the permit. My Department is currently seeking to establish whether the employer proposes to pay the correct remuneration. The review is pending the outcome of these discussions. It is expected that the review will be completed shortly.
99. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide annual costings on 50/50 co-financing for the Rural Development Programme 2015-2020. [36326/14]
View answerThe Rural Development Programme (RDP), 2014-2020 will be a key support in enhancing the competitiveness of the agri-food sector, achieving more sustainable management of natural resources and ensuring a more balanced development of rural areas. Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for Rural Development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) sets out the breakdown of EU support for rural development for each EU Member State for the years 2014 – 2020. Ireland’s total EAFRD allocation for rural development is some €2.19 billion (or some €313 million per annum), as agreed at the Multi -annual Financial Framework negotiations in 2013. EU funding amounts are combined with national co-funding to provide for each Member State’s RDP. In Ireland’s case, National Exchequer funding brings the total to be spent on RDP schemes in the 2014-2020 period to over €4 billion. Annual costings for the RDP will be agreed in line with the roll out of schemes and the annual budgetary process.
100. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide costings on a €200 beef genomic scheme in 2015. [36332/14]
View answerThe Beef Data and Genomics Programme has been developed as part of the draft Rural Development Plan submitted to the European Commission in July of 2014. It is currently the subject of discussion with the European Commission whose agreement is required before the scheme and the RDP can come into force. The proposed Beef Data and Genomics Programme is intended to deliver an accelerated improvement in the quality and environmental sustainability of the beef herd through the application of genomics technology. This will help farmers to maximise productivity in a sustainable way, while supporting improved quality and traceability in the national suckler herd, as set out under the Food Harvest 2020 strategy.
The programme will provide support to farmers to take samples for genotyping from selected animals in their herds and to provide vital breeding data to support the development of a national cattle breeding databank. This data will then be returned to farmers in respect of their own animals and will provide them with the tools to select higher quality and more efficient breeding replacements based on criteria such as ease of calving, high weight gain thereafter, and animals that can be finished earlier. The scheme will have a substantial environmental dividend while improving productivity, reducing input costs and improving margins for farmers.
Payments will, subject to the approval of the programme by the EU Commission, be paid to farmers for work carried out, including the development of a herd breeding plan, training and transaction costs. Among the activities being considered for the programme are the:
- recording of animal events,
- recording of a range of performance criteria,
- taking and sending for laboratory testing tissue (DNA) samples from selected animals, and
- selection of high quality replacement bulls and heifers over the period of their BDGP contract.
- Completion of an on-farm Carbon Navigator.
A budget of €295 million has been allocated in the draft proposal sent to the Commission. This €80 is calculated, in accordance with EU requirements, on the basis of the cost incurred and the income foregone by the farmer in completing the actions required under the scheme. Officials in my Department are currently in discussions with the EU Commission on the final details of the programme.
101. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties currently being experienced by fishermen in Killybegs, County Donegal and other places caused by the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority's new guidelines on the weighing of fish at piers and the draining of water from fish; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36202/14]
View answer102. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will review the current Sea Fisheries Protection Authority's proposals on the regulation of the pelagic fishing and processing industry here with a view to addressing the concerns of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association and the Federation of Irish Fishermen as communicated to him on the 16 September 2014. [36203/14]
View answer103. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the scope allowed to him under Article 61(1) of Council Regulation 1224/2009 for the weighing of fish at factory premises; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36204/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 101 to 103, inclusive, together.
Firstly, may I say that all matters relating to the operational enforcement of sea fisheries law are, by Statute, matters appropriate to the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA). The SFPA is the independent law enforcement agency of the State for sea fisheries law.
As Minister, I do not have responsibility in relation to the issues raised by the Deputy. Responsibility in these matters rests with the SFPA. The SFPA have a challenging job to do. Its statutory responsibility is to enforce EU and national law under the Common Fisheries Policy. It also has responsibility to provide a level playing field for everybody in this industry. If one boat or two or six boats are overfishing deliberately, it is not a victimless crime. It has an impact on others who are law abiding and who are catching in accordance with the quotas allocated to them. The market situation for pelagic fish is currently challenging, as Russia has banned the importation of pelagic fish and Russia has been an important market for mackerel, in particular. If illegally caught fish are being placed on the market, it displaces and reduces prices for those operators, the majority of our industry, who are abiding by the rules set down. In my view, it is in the interest of the industry as a whole to have strong and fair arrangements in place that give confidence that the rules apply across the board and that all operators are abiding by the quota allocations made available to them.
In order to inform the Deputy, the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority has sent me a report on the issues that have given rise to the current situation, the actions taken and the current state of consultation between the SFPA and the industry.
Arrangements for the monitoring and control of fisheries is set down in the EU Control Regulation 1224/09. Article 60(2) of the Council Regulation requires that weighing of fisheries products shall be carried out on landing prior to the fisheries products being held in storage, transported or sold. The SFPA has allowed a derogation from the EU regulations and permitted the weighing of pelagic fish post-transport in every plant since 2012, based on assurances that proper systems and procedures that accurately recorded catches were in place in these plants.
However, there have been substantial indications that fish have been landed in weights that exceed those recorded by the weighing systems in factories. These indications have arisen through the routine course of the SFPA’s work and as a result of joint inspections with other organisations, including the National Standards Authority of Ireland. The SFPA has set out some of the issues that gave rise to concerns. These include a high level of divergence between spot checks by the SFPA and the official factory weight, even taking account of some divergence relating to water content. A trend of individual trucks recording substantially more fish when subject to an SFPA official control compared to instances when not subject to such controls. One instance involved a simple on-off switch on the belt weigher in a factory which had the effect of allowing the belt to transit fish without being recorded on the meter. If used in this way, fish would not be weighed or recorded.
The permits which allow in-factory weighting have lapsed due to the SFPA’s overall lack of confidence in the operation of the weighing systems. The SFPA has entered into discussions with both catchers and processors to implement systems and procedures that will restore confidence in the weighing systems in factories. The SFPA have set out to the factories certain requirements necessary before permits can be granted, allowing the renewal of in-factory weighing. These requirements include provisions to give assurances that weigh belts in the factories when moving are recording. They include confirmation of product flows into and out of the plant and checks involving weighing of a sample of landings on the pier side as a means of validating factory weighing.
Several pelagic fish factories have over recent days applied for permits under the new requirements, albeit generally qualified by statements around non-acceptance of some of the requirements described by SFPA. These applications are currently being considered by the SFPA. The representative bodies for the Irish pelagic industry have acknowledged the need for change. However, they are not to date willing to support the SFPA requirement for a continuous remote monitoring facility to increase assurances of accurate recording. Furthermore, they are not to date willing to provide stock movement records at the level of detail of the SFPA request. Irish catchers have said they are not willing to move to recognise the validity of weighing at landing, even as a component cross checking arrangement of an overall system of supporting factory permits.
I understand and appreciate that the new arrangements sought by the SFPA for the effective control of pelagic fisheries involve some changes in practices. However, in the long run, I believe that it will be in the interests of the industry as a whole to commit to strengthened controls that give all catchers and processors assurances that there is a level playing field across the industry. I would encourage the industry to continue its dialogue with the SFPA. The SFPA is currently considering existing applications for in factory weighing permits and is awaiting further applications from the remainder of the factories. If there are additional technical issues to be sorted out, the SFPA have assured me that it remains available for further discussion with industry representatives.
