Written Answers Nos. 231-240
231. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if resources will be increased to local authorities or animal protection authorities to increase efforts to seize horses which are abandoned or left to roam free in housing estates or public green spaces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7870/18]
View answerThe Control of Horses Act 1996 provides powers to Local Authorities to deal with stray and abandoned horses and for the designation, by each Local Authority via byelaws that are appropriate to the respective functional areas, of control areas in which horses cannot be kept without a licence. In the context of the Act, a stray horse means a horse apparently wandering at large, lost, abandoned or unaccompanied by any person apparently in charge of it, in a public place or on any premises, including private premises, without the owner's or occupier's consent. Officials of my Department also regularly assist the Local Authorities and An Garda Síochána in their operations where animals have been welfare compromised.
My Department provides financial assistance towards the expenses incurred by the Local Authorities in operation of the Act, namely in seizing straying horses or horses causing a danger to persons or property. In this regard funding of €7.48 million has been provided to local authorities towards costs incurred in seizing stray horses for the period 2013 – 2017. This funding represents a very substantial support from the Exchequer to Local Authorities, and there are no plans at this juncture to increase funding. For their part Local Authorities should ensure they are achieving best value possible through public procurement.
Separately, my Department provides funding to local authorities to support facilities for 'urban horse projects' and in educating young people in the care and welfare of horses. These projects provide many benefits to communities including a reduction in the number of straying animals as is demonstrated by the number of horses seized in 2017 (1,177) compared with the figure for recent previous years 2,128 in 2016 and 2,683 in 2015.
My Department further funds animal welfare bodies to assist in their work in protecting animal welfare of all species including equines. In this regard, we provided funding of €2.56 million in December 2017 to 111 animal welfare organisations throughout the country, 31 of these organisations work with equines.
My Department continues to stress that it is the responsibility of individuals to ensure the welfare of horses in their ownership and/or their care.
232. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a person (details supplied) can avail of funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7978/18]
View answerBoth slurry spreading equipment and facilities for the storage of slurry are grant aided under the TAMS II Investment Schemes. All details, including the Terms and Conditions of the Schemes are available on my Department's website.
233. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of persons in receipt of GLAS 1, 2 and 3 who have received the 85% advance payment of their 2017 payment, by county, in tabular form; the number of persons who have passed all payment approval checks and are awaiting their 85% portion of the 2017 payment; the number of GLAS recipients who have yet to receive this portion of payment, by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8023/18]
View answerThe information requested is provided in the following table. Please note that the information also answers previous PQ 3878/18 for which the deputy had been advised that the information would be provided when compiled. Payment has issued to all cases cleared for payment and weekly updates are published on my Department's website.
|
GLAS 1 |
GLAS 2 |
GLAS 3 |
Total |
|||||||||
|
County |
Cases |
Advance Paid |
Advance Not Paid |
Cases |
Advance Paid |
Advance Not Paid |
Cases |
Advance Paid |
Advance Not Paid |
Cases |
Advance Paid |
Advance Not Paid |
|
Carlow |
277 |
246 |
31 |
127 |
109 |
18 |
126 |
116 |
10 |
530 |
471 |
59 |
|
Cavan |
903 |
843 |
60 |
431 |
385 |
46 |
541 |
488 |
53 |
1,875 |
1,716 |
159 |
|
Clare |
1612 |
1,488 |
124 |
687 |
638 |
49 |
811 |
733 |
78 |
3,110 |
2,859 |
251 |
|
Cork |
2144 |
1,976 |
168 |
1,002 |
892 |
110 |
945 |
821 |
124 |
4,091 |
3,689 |
402 |
|
Donegal |
1934 |
1,797 |
137 |
999 |
907 |
92 |
1,409 |
1,246 |
163 |
4,342 |
3,950 |
392 |
|
Dublin |
60 |
53 |
7 |
17 |
16 |
1 |
19 |
17 |
2 |
96 |
86 |
10 |
|
Galway |
3063 |
2,684 |
379 |
1,302 |
1,110 |
192 |
1,588 |
1,406 |
182 |
5,953 |
5,200 |
753 |
|
Kerry |
1768 |
1,538 |
230 |
868 |
767 |
101 |
765 |
635 |
130 |
3,401 |
2,940 |
461 |
|
Kildare |
244 |
202 |
42 |
78 |
61 |
17 |
114 |
93 |
21 |
436 |
356 |
80 |
|
Kilkenny |
428 |
383 |
45 |
207 |
186 |
21 |
190 |
160 |
30 |
825 |
729 |
96 |
|
Laois |
368 |
336 |
32 |
192 |
184 |
8 |
235 |
209 |
26 |
795 |
729 |
66 |
|
Leitrim |
1016 |
945 |
71 |
419 |
380 |
39 |
529 |
481 |
48 |
1,964 |
1,806 |
158 |
|
Limerick |
1046 |
970 |
76 |
301 |
266 |
35 |
406 |
370 |
36 |
1,753 |
1,606 |
147 |
|
Longford |
511 |
476 |
35 |
343 |
327 |
16 |
330 |
291 |
39 |
1,184 |
1,094 |
90 |
|
Louth |
146 |
133 |
13 |
77 |
69 |
8 |
96 |
85 |
11 |
319 |
287 |
32 |
|
Mayo |
2549 |
2,187 |
362 |
1,327 |
1,080 |
247 |
1,661 |
1,378 |
283 |
5,537 |
4,645 |
892 |
|
Meath |
421 |
391 |
30 |
199 |
174 |
25 |
254 |
224 |
30 |
874 |
789 |
85 |
|
Monaghan |
574 |
533 |
41 |
145 |
142 |
3 |
340 |
323 |
17 |
1,059 |
998 |
61 |
|
Offaly |
475 |
432 |
43 |
277 |
244 |
33 |
294 |
258 |
36 |
1,046 |
934 |
112 |
|
Roscommon |
1518 |
1,427 |
91 |
550 |
500 |
50 |
717 |
647 |
70 |
2,785 |
2,574 |
211 |
|
Sligo |
938 |
862 |
76 |
363 |
337 |
26 |
493 |
447 |
46 |
1,794 |
1,646 |
148 |
|
Tipperary |
1128 |
1,025 |
103 |
507 |
447 |
60 |
506 |
452 |
54 |
2,141 |
1,924 |
217 |
|
Waterford |
359 |
315 |
44 |
131 |
110 |
21 |
122 |
102 |
20 |
612 |
527 |
85 |
|
Westmeath |
643 |
619 |
24 |
263 |
254 |
9 |
281 |
244 |
37 |
1,187 |
1,117 |
70 |
|
Wexford |
758 |
661 |
97 |
264 |
211 |
53 |
304 |
271 |
33 |
1,326 |
1,143 |
183 |
|
Wicklow |
331 |
298 |
33 |
151 |
138 |
13 |
204 |
183 |
21 |
686 |
619 |
67 |
|
TOTAL |
25,214 |
22,555 |
2,659 |
11,227 |
9,700 |
1,527 |
13,280 |
11,540 |
1,740 |
49,721 |
43,795 |
5,926 |
234. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the 2018 GLAS budget allocation is less than the 2017 allocation in view of the fact that the scheme is fully subscribed; and the impact this will have on payments in 2018. [8024/18]
View answerFirstly, it is important to note that GLAS is a five-year scheme and payments in individual years will vary but will balance out over the lifetime of the scheme.
Annual GLAS advance payments are made in last quarter each year in accordance with the governing regulations with balancing payments issuing in the following calendar year when all inspections have been initiated. Any unpaid advances are discharged as early as possible in the following year. The outturn in 2017 was €195.6m and I am satisfied that the 2018 allocation of €203m is adequate to meet all eligible payment claims.
235. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the fishing opportunities for 2017 and 2018 for stocks to which the fleet has access in terms of value in euro and tonnage, in tabular form; the landing value in 2017 and 2018 of same; and the national share of total allowable catches in 2017 and 2018 in terms of value and tonnage. [8025/18]
View answerA containing the information sought has been forwarded to the Deputy. It can be seen at the following link:
236. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of participants in each year of the knowledge gateway scheme since its establishment; the amount allocated and expended in each year, respectively; and the budget allocations for 2018, in tabular form. [8026/18]
View answerKnowledge Transfer is one of a suite of measures included under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 and involves the formation of knowledge transfer groups across the beef, dairy, equine, sheep, tillage and poultry sectors. Department approved agricultural consultants acting as Knowledge Transfer Facilitators administer groups operating over a three-year period. Facilitators who complete all of the requirements of the programme receive a payment of €500 per participant for each year of the three-year programme and participants who complete all of the requirements of the programme receive a payment of €750 per annum.
A breakdown of the number of applications received for the Knowledge Transfer Programme is provided in the table.
|
|
Total |
Beef |
Dairy |
Sheep |
Tillage |
Poultry |
Equine |
|
Number of Participants in year 1 |
20,252 |
10,072 |
4,258 |
4,310 |
885 |
248 |
479 |
|
Number of participants in year 2 |
19,522 |
9867 |
4129 |
4073 |
897 |
223 |
333
|
|
Budget allocated for each of the 3 years |
25,000,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Payments commenced at the end of October 2017 for participants who successfully completed all elements of Year One of the Programme. To date €16.7 million has been paid in respect of 13,740 participants and their respective facilitators.
237. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the new rules and criteria that apply to participants in the young farmers scheme under pillar 1 following reforms at EU level. [8027/18]
View answerEU Regulation 2017/2393 came into effect on 1 January 2018. This Regulation included an amendment to EU Regulation 1307/2013 regarding the number of years a successful applicant under the Young Farmers Scheme (YFS) can receive payment. The relevant amendment is in two parts. The first part of the regulatory amendment provides that YFS applicants may receive payment for five years starting from the first submission of an application for payment, provided that the application takes place within five years of the commencement of farming. This period of five years also applies to farmers who had received payment under the scheme in respect of applications prior to 2018. The second part of the regulatory amendment provides that it is optional for Member States to extend the provision to young farmers who set up a holding in the period 2010-2013, and who had received payment under the YFS in respect of applications before the 2018 scheme year.
Ireland has applied the maximum 2% of the national ceiling to create a YFS fund of €24 million annually. Ireland has also utilised the option to overestimate the BPS ceiling in order to take account of unused YFS funds and this funding was used to allocate entitlements to young farmers and new entrants under the 2017 National Reserve. Therefore the allocation of €24 million is fully utilised in Ireland. If Ireland opted to implement just the first part of the amended regulatory provision it would result in a windfall gain for some Young Farmers Scheme applicants who had commenced farming between 2010 and 2013 and who have already received payment based on the regulatory provisions applying at the time. It is estimated that the additional cost of implementing just the first part of the regulatory amendment in Ireland would be in excess of €5.5 million in 2018 and €7.5 million in 2019 which would result in a requirement for a linear cut to all farmers’ basic payments in order to fund this additional spend under the Young Farmers Scheme.
It is for this reason that Ireland will implement the relevant regulatory amendment of Regulation 2017/2393 in full. This will provide for a situation where with effect from the 2018 scheme year, successful applicants under the Young Farmers Scheme who commenced farming from 2014 onwards and submit their first YFS application within five years of commencement of farming may receive payment under the YFS for five years.
238. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of participants in each year of the 2014 to 2020 CAP for pillar 1 payments; the amount allocated and expended in each year respectively; the budget allocations for 2018, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8028/18]
View answerThe required data is being compiled at present and will be forwarded directly to the Deputy as soon as it is available.
239. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will report on a recent meeting between his Department and the Revenue Commissioners (details supplied); the guarantees that have been committed to by the British Government to avoid this scenario in view of the impact border checks would have on island wide trade in the agrifood sector. [8029/18]
View answerMy Department is engaging with whole of Government structures for the co-ordination of Brexit preparations, which include representatives of the Revenue Commissioners, on an ongoing basis.
I understand that the particular meeting referred to took place on 4 January 2018 between officials from the Revenue Commissioners and the IFA, following a request from the IFA. My Department was also represented. The purpose of the meeting was to have a general discussion on customs and other issues in the context of Brexit.
In the Joint Report from the EU and UK on progress during phase 1 of the withdrawal negotiations, published on 8 December 2017, the UK committed to protecting North-South cooperation and avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland. This is to be achieved in the first instance through the overall future EU-UK relationship. If this is not possible, the UK will propose specific solutions to address the unique circumstances of the island of Ireland. In the absence of agreed solutions, the United Kingdom “will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union which, now or in the future, support North-South cooperation, the all-island economy and the protection of the 1998 (Good Friday) Agreement.” Such arrangements would require regulatory alignment in those areas of sanitary and phytosanitary rules subject to official control checks at the point of import.
Work is now ongoing to ensure that these principles and commitments are reflected in the Withdrawal Agreement, which will be legally binding.
