Written Answers Nos. 33-41
33. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine following on from the European Union leaders' meeting, if he is in a position to disclose the implications of Brexit on Irish imports and exports, especially the effect it will have on the Irish agricultural sector. [19350/16]
View answerThe decision of the UK to leave the EU is one that creates considerable challenges for the agrifood sector. The UK is by far our largest trading partner. Last year we exported almost €5.1 billion worth of agricultural products. This included more than €1.1 billion in beef products and almost €970 million in dairy products. Ireland is also the UK’s largest destination for its food exports - worth €3.8 billion last year. This bilateral trade takes place on the basis of harmonised EU rules on animal and public health and labelling, without complex certification, quota limits or customs duties and tariffs. And it is underpinned by the vital support of the CAP budget, to which the UK is a significant net contributor.
Given these linkages, and as the UK is a net food importer, both countries have a strong interest in maintaining a close agrifood trading relationship. In addition, the resilience of the Irish agrifood sector is well recognised, and this, together with the strong commercial relationships built up over years of trading, will help us to negotiate our way though the challenges ahead.
It is important also to bear in mind that the precise implications of the referendum outcome will depend on the trade and other arrangements ultimately negotiated between the EU and the UK. These negotiations may take up to two years, and perhaps longer, and over that period existing arrangements will continue to apply.
Nevertheless, my Department has engaged in detailed contingency planning for the possibility of this result, and has published a summary of the key actions we are taking to address the contingencies arising from the UK’s decision.
The most immediate concerns for exporters centre on Euro-Sterling exchange rates. It should be noted that the fall in the value of Sterling against the Euro, while significant, is not unprecedented. Nevertheless, a sustained period of currency volatility could be of concern. In that regard, the Central Bank of Ireland has pre-established contingency plans to deal with market volatility surrounding the referendum result. The Bank will engage with the Department of Finance and individual financial institutions regarding potential risks. Actions by ECB and other global actors will be monitored closely.
I have also asked the relevant agencies, including Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland, to provide practical guidance to SMEs. Last week Bord Bia announced a number of measures to support food and drink businesses. These measures cover areas such as managing volatility impacts, providing consumer and market insight, deepening customer engagement and extending market reach, with the aim of helping companies maintain their competitiveness. Similar support is also being provided by Enterprise Ireland.
Aside from currency fluctuations, the main areas in which potential impacts are foreseen are in relation to tariffs and trade, the EU budget, regulations and standards, and customs controls and certification, while complex issues also arise for the fisheries sector.
However, we must remember that our trading relationship with the UK is not altered in any way until the negotiation process that will dictate the terms and conditions of the UK’s departure is completed.
In the meantime, and as part of our overall contingency planning, I have taken a number of measures to ensure a sensible, coherent approach is adopted, namely:
- I have established a dedicated unit in my Department to work on all of the issues that I have mentioned;
- I have convened a Consultative Committee of stakeholders, which met for the first time last week, to ensure a full exchange of information as the negotiations proceed;
- I am also ensuring that the response of the relevant agencies is fully coordinated through a contact group established under the Food Wise 2025 High Level Implementation Committee, and
- The Department will continue to feed into the central Contingency Framework being co-ordinated by the Department of the Taoiseach.
34. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on his Department’s efforts in terms of the development of the seafood industry and the wider marine sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21265/16]
View answerOur seafood industry has been on a sustained growth path in recent years, with sales growing 53% since 2010 to €890 million in 2015. Current FAO estimates are that growth in world consumption of fish will require an extra 40 million tonnes of seafood by 2030. Ireland can capture a significant share of this global seafood opportunity with the right strategy and supporting investment. FoodWise 2025 recognised this opportunity for the growth of our seafood industry and set out a strategy to realise that growth potential by focussing on the key areas of sustainability, added value, processing scale, human capital, increasing raw material supply and developing our markets.
In January this year, a new €240 million development programme for Ireland’s seafood sector was launched - the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Operational Programme. That Programme will be the primary tool to address the 6 key areas identified in FoodWise. I was delighted to announce in June the first tranche of €4.3 million in grants to 51 aquaculture and seafood processing enterprises under the EMFF Programme.
Under that Programme, I am making available €30 million to kick-start growth in our aquaculture sector, which has been stagnant for too long. In December, we published Ireland’s first National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development, targeting growth in output of 45,000 tonnes by 2023, aided through 24 specified initiatives. To complement those efforts, my Department is working to deliver up to 200 licence determinations this year and will initiate a review of aquaculture licensing procedures, as recommended in FoodWise.
All of these efforts focusing on aquaculture, together with efforts to attract landings of fish by foreign vessels, will help increase the supply of raw material to our growing processing industry to convert to added value consumer foods, food ingredients and functional foods. I will be making available €33 million Government funding through the EMFF Programme to support the further development of our processing sector through enhanced scaling and value adding. FoodWise recognises that we need to reduce the level of seafood product which is exported in commodity form from its present 70% level to below 50%. Adding value to seafood products will make a huge difference to the economic activity and levels of employment in our coastal communities.
These efforts are being supported through €2 million investment in 2016 by Bord Bia in promoting Irish seafood internationally and assisting our producers to find and grow markets. They are being supported by a commitment within the seafood sector to sustainability, with 32 Irish seafood companies fully verified as members of Origin Green, and a further 16 applications in the pipeline. Between them, these companies will account for in excess of 80% of total seafood export values.
In these many initiatives to implement the FoodWise strategy and in our financial commitment through the EMFF Programme, Government is clearly stepping up to the challenges and striving to grow our seafood industry.
35. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of animal welfare prosecutions that have arisen on foot of his Department's efforts in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21323/16]
View answerThe Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 is a major piece of legislation replacing a wide range of Acts relating to animal health and welfare dating back over a century. The Act provides for major legislative changes relating to animal welfare, putting it on a more pro-active footing and, in particular, placing specific requirement on animal keepers to care for animals rather than merely avoid cruelty. In addition, the Act enables authorised officers for the first time to intervene before welfare situations become serious instead of waiting for problems to occur as heretofore. This policy change is reinforced by a system of Animal Welfare Notices. This means authorised officers are now in a position to provide positive instruction for the care of animals and they only resort to prosecution in serious situations. Thus the Act assists in the education of keepers of animals and in making them aware of potential hazards as well as providing for the punishment of those few persons who contravene the Act. This policy is designed to allow early intervention and to prevent small problems escalating into serious issues.
Since the commencement of the Animal Health and Welfare Act in March 2014, my Department has initiated over fifty prosecutions for breaches of legislation relating to animal welfare, including those taken by my Department, based on field inspections by Department Officers, authorised officers of the ISPCA and DSPCA and An Garda Síochána. Several prosecutions have been successfully completed and the remainder are at various stages in the court system.
The offences prosecuted include –
- Causing unnecessary pain and suffering to animals;
- Not taking necessary steps to protect the welfare of animals;
- Being reckless or neglectful regarding the welfare of animals;
- Failure to secure appropriate veterinary treatment;
- Failure to comply with notices issued by authorised officers to take specified measures in the interests of an animals’ welfare, and
- Unlawful tail-docking of pups.
My Department has initiated a programme of training for authorised officers involved in implementing the animal welfare code. As the Deputy is aware, in addition to Department personnel, authorised officers include members of An Garda Síochána as well as officers of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
I think it appropriate to place on the record my thanks to An Garda Síochána, Customs and Excise and officers of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for their continued co-operation with officers of my Department in implementing animal health and welfare legislation.
39. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will ensure that coursing meetings are automatically cancelled in the event of adverse weather conditions in the interest of animal welfare and safety and as a condition when granting coursing licences. [19870/16]
View answerUnder 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 confirmed that it has systems in place to underpin the welfare of animals participating in coursing events. These include mandatory inspections of hares and coursing venues in advance of the commencement of an event. Greyhounds involved in coursing are subject to the provisions of the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011 and the Code of Practice for the care and welfare of greyhounds, published by Bord na gCon. The ICC has assured the Department that it goes to great lengths to ensure the highest standards are adhered to during coursing. The ICC's rules and regulations (Rule 106) accommodate the postponement of meetings if the weather is unfavourable i.e. snowfall, frost or waterlogged ground, which may affect the welfare of both greyhound and/or hare. The ICC has demonstrated it’s willingness to cancel/postpone meetings in the face of adverse weather conditions. By way of example, one coursing meeting was cancelled and one postponed in the 2015/2016 season due to flooding, and this would be a routine practice for all clubs affiliated to the ICC. During extreme weather conditions, it is also the practice of clubs to provide additional food for hares living on hare preserves protected by coursing clubs.
A very high proportion (99.33%) of the hares captured for hare coursing were returned to the wild at the end of the 2015/2016 season.
The systems that are in place are, in my view, effective and are working well.
41. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if electronic tagging will be introduced for all lambs as part of the proposed new sheep scheme. [21287/16]
View answerThe new Programme for Government commits to the introduction of a scheme for sheep farmers under the Rural Development Programme with a budget of €25 million to be provided in Budget 2017. Discussions have commenced with the European Commission and a formal submission will be made shortly. Any such scheme must comply with the Rural Development Regulation. This scheme will be additional to the existing supports available to sheep farmers under the BPS, GLAS, ANC and TAMS, will make a vital contribution to ensuring the continuing viability of the sheep sector in Ireland.
My officials are currently working on the details of the scheme, taking into account consultations with the farm organisations and the discussions with the European Commission. The Scheme is being developed as an animal welfare scheme and as such will utilise Article 33 of the Rural Development Regulation; all actions or undertakings will have to show a clear connection to improving animal welfare conditions for those flocks within the scheme.
EU rules relating to the identification of sheep are laid down in Commission Regulation 21 of 2004, which requires the electronic identification of all sheep by 9 months of age at the latest (but before leaving the holding of birth) with a conventional tag and an EID tag/bolus. Article 4(3) of the Regulation provides for a derogation whereby Member States may chose to allow the identification of lambs slaughtered before the age of 12 months by way of a single conventional tag. This ‘slaughter derogation’ was availed of by my Department and has been incorporated into the current National Sheep Identification System (NSIS) which has now been in place for over 4 years.
My Department is currently reviewing the NSIS with a view to simplifying and improving the current system and in this context there are a number of factors to be considered. The benefits of extending EID include improved traceability and significant labour savings for farmers in terms of reduced bureaucracy and record-keeping. I am also mindful that full EID is also in use in Northern Ireland, Britain and France and that not introducing it here could potentially undermine efforts to access third country markets. On the other hand the extension of EID would involve some additional costs for farmers, which need to be borne in mind. These discussions are separate to the development of the scheme.
