Written Answers Nos. 388-402
388. Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures which can be put in place to ensure organic farming remains competitive and worthwhile in circumstances in which current prices for organically-reared cattle are similar to those for non-organic cattle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38499/18]
View answerA new Organic Sector Strategy Group was established in March this year by my Department which is tasked with developing a strategy for the development of the Organic Sector for the period up to 2025. The new Strategic plan will feed into the new Rural Development Plan and Foodwise 2025. This strategy will incorporate sectorial and cross sectoral recommendations, market developments, training and education, public awareness and wider EU policy.
Recognising that it is critical that stakeholders have their views considered, before the finalisation of this strategy, a public consultation process was initiated by my Department which afforded an opportunity for all interested parties to contribute to the development of the new strategic plan for the development of the Organic Sector.
Bord Bia research shows that the Irish Organic Market grew by 10.5% in 2017. This is a very positive reflection on organic farming in Ireland and it mirrors a growing trend across Europe and globally. This trend suggests that there is further potential in the sector but in order to grow sustainably it must be market driven. We need to focus on how we can further grow the market and explore all opportunities such as growing exports. In this way we can ensure that the sector remains competitive and that organic producers receive a worthwhile premium for their product.
389. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if harbour charges being levied on small fishing boats at a pier (details supplied) in County Kerry will be reviewed; if officials from his Department will meet the fishermen to the discuss the charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38500/18]
View answerMy Department owns, manages and maintains the six State-owned Fishery Harbour Centres, located at Castletownbere, Dingle, Dunmore East, Howth, Killybegs and Ros An Mhíl. The Fishery Harbour Centres (Rates and Charges) Order 2012 (214 of 2012), which came into effect on the 1st July 2012, sets out the fee schedule for the use of the facilities at each of the six Fishery Harbour Centres. Different rates apply according to the type and nature of the vessel, the different use made of the facilities by the vessel, the size of the vessel and the quantity, value and species of fish landed (where applicable).
The Department is currently undertaking a review of the 2012 order and expects to engage in a Public Consultation on the matter, as required by legislation, as part of the review process.
390. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether it is acceptable that a GLAS 2017 payment for a person (details supplied) is delayed as a result of a Department approved commonage manager failing to submit a commonage management plan on time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38511/18]
View answerThe person named was approved into GLAS 1 with a contract commencement date of 1 October 2015 and has received full payments for scheme years 2015 and 2016. The 85% 2017 advance, including GLAS+ has also been paid.
The Commonage Management Plan is outstanding for this application. The completion and submission of these Plans is a matter between the GLAS participant and their Commonage Advisor. I have made enquiries and I have been advised that an Advisor has been allocated to complete this Plan. The applicant may wish to contact his Commonage Advisor directly.
391. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number and location of all new, renewal and review aquaculture and foreshore licence applications awaiting a decision for County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38519/18]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy is not readily available and will require a detailed examination of my Department’s records.
A full response to the Deputy will issue within two weeks.
392. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of the granting of an aquaculture licence to an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38520/18]
View answerThe aquaculture licence application referred to by the Deputy is currently under consideration by my Department under the provisions of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act, the 1933 Foreshore Act and applicable EU legislation.
The licensing process also involves consultation with a wide range of scientific and technical advisors as well as various statutory consultees. The legislation also provides for a period of public consultation.
It is not possible at this stage to say when this process will be complete. As the licence application is under active consideration as part of a statutory process it would not be appropriate to comment further on the matter at this time.
Every effort is being made to expedite the conclusion of this matter as soon as possible.
393. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if Ministers, ministerial advisers or officials in his Department have ever used private email to communicate on departmental issues between one another or with other persons or organisations; if so, the reason; if so, if he will publish these emails; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38552/18]
View answerThe Deputy may wish to note that my official business is carried out through secure official email accounts.
I would also refer the Deputy to my reply to PQ No. 39577/16 where I confirmed that in the past I had occasionally used my personal Gmail account for non-sensitive official correspondence.
All employees of my Department are bound by its Information Security Acceptable Use Policy which states that the official email accounts assigned to each member of staff are to be used for all work related correspondence.
394. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if interest will be waived on an instalment repayment plan in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38573/18]
View answerThe Super levy Instalment scheme was introduced in 2015. This scheme was offered by the EU Commission to Member States to implement on a voluntary basis to allow producers who had incurred super levy debt to spread the cost over three years (2015–2017) interest free.
At the end of the milk quota regime in April 2015 Ireland exceeded its quota by 4.4%, resulting in a super levy bill of €71 million for 6,400 Irish farmers. Each Member State was obliged to settle the liability in full in 2015 with the EU Commission and could then re-coup the money from its farmers as per the scheme. My Department chose to implement the scheme on the basis that it would minimise the burden on the sector during a period of planned expansion here as well as helping with the immediate cash flow difficulties for farmers faced with such a bill.
My Department introduced the scheme of phased recoupment from farmers who had the option of joining the scheme and spreading their repayment over three years. This repayment schedule took the form of a 33% lump sum in 2015 and the balance to be spread over five equal instalments in 2016 and 2017 over the peak production period of May to September. Ireland was one of the few Member States with a super levy bill to introduce the scheme.
This scheme was financed from Exchequer funds and so my Department is responsible for ensuring that the funds advanced to the Commission on behalf of farmers are recouped on behalf of the taxpayer.
The person in question incurred a superlevy fine because they supplied almost double their assigned quota in the 2014/15 quota year. They are subject to the same conditions regarding interest which apply to all participants of the scheme and they are strongly encouraged to engage with the relevant officials in my Department to resolve the issue.
395. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of farm payments for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38694/18]
View answerA 2018 Areas of Natural Constraints/Basic Payment Application was received in respect of the person named on 22 February 2018. In the course of the standard processing of this application an over-claim was identified on a parcel of land. A letter and map detailing the over-claim was recently issued and the person named has subsequently replied to appeal the Departments findings. The reply is currently being examined.
The ANC payment on the originally determined eligible land issued last week to the nominated bank account of the person named. Following examination of the appeal submitted, a supplementary payment will issue if the appeal is upheld.
396. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an application for an oyster licence by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38697/18]
View answerMy Department considers all applications for aquaculture licences in accordance with the provisions of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act, the 1933 Foreshore Act and applicable EU legislation. The licensing process involves consultation with a wide range of scientific and technical advisers as well as various Statutory Consultees. The legislation also provides for a period of public consultation.
In addition, the legislation governing aquaculture licensing provides for an appeals mechanism. Appeals against licence decisions are a matter for the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board (ALAB) which is an independent statutory body. Full details of the appeals process can be obtained at: http://www.alab.ie/appealsprocess/.
In accordance with the applicable legislation, the Statutory and Public Consultation phase in respect of these applications has now concluded. Every effort is being made to expedite a decision on these applications having regard to the complexities involved. As the applications referred to by the Deputy are under active consideration as part of a statutory process it would not be appropriate to comment further on the matter at this time.
397. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to compel county councils which are responsible for waste to compel waste collectors to secure green bins (details supplied) through the provision of locking mechanisms; his plans to encourage local authorities to introduce by-laws to encourage householders to fit locking mechanisms in order to ensure that during inclement windy weather these bins, if toppled, do not end up causing widespread littering; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38473/18]
View answerEach local authority has discretion to draw up its own bye-laws on waste presentation in accordance with: the Local Government Act, 2001 (legislation which is under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government); Section 35 of the Waste Management Act, 1996 and Section 21 of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997 (if necessary). The power to adopt such by-laws is a reserved function.
While the power to make a bye-law and its actual content remain matters exclusively for each individual local authority, it is Government policy that a regionalised approach to both waste management planning and regulatory enforcement is adopted. Accordingly, the three Regional Waste Management Offices were established in 2013, with formation of the Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs) following in 2015.
One of the priority tasks contained in the three Regional Waste Management Plans 2015-2021 was to commence a project to attain a more unified approach to the content and making of waste presentation bye-laws.
A Template for a Bye-law on Waste Presentation has been prepared by the three Regional Waste Management Offices and circulated to local authorities with a view to standardising such by-laws across the State. The template does not contain a provision concerning the fitting of a locking mechanism to kerbside bins, however, it does contain a specific provision in relation to the maintenance and management of waste containers so as not to be a source of nuisance or litter, as well as provisions on the storage and presentation of waste containers.
An example of such draft bye-laws which were the subject of a public consultation (closed on 17 September, 2018) is available at: https://consultation.dublincity.ie/environment/draft-dublin-city-council-bye-laws-waste-managemen/.
398. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 422, 425 and 430 of 5 December 2017, the status of the issue since these questions were tabled, especially with regard to the proposed €75 annual support; his views on whether this will be sufficient to support the households; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38536/18]
View answerMy Department is continuing the work of developing a mechanism to provide a €75 support for persons with lifelong or long-term medical incontinence to help meet the average annual cost of disposing of medical incontinence products. This process has unfortunately taken longer than envisaged, due to data protection issues that have arisen since the introduction of GDPR. However, I can assure the Deputy that I am committed to introducing the annual support as soon as practically possible in conjunction with relevant agencies and stakeholders.
In line with the commitments set out in A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland, published in 2012, and in the interest of encouraging further waste prevention and greater recycling, flat-rate fees for kerbside household waste collection are being phased out over the period autumn 2017 to autumn 2018, as customers contracts come up for renewal. The necessary regulatory steps have been put in place to give effect to this measure.
As announced in mid-2017, mandatory per kilogramme 'pay by weight' charging is not being introduced. Allowing for a range of charging options, which encourage householders to reduce and separate their waste, provides flexibility to waste collectors to develop various service-price offerings that suit different household circumstances.
The Price Monitoring Group has considered twelve months of data to date. While fluctuations in prices and service offerings have been observed, the overall trend is relative price stability.
399. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the work under the Action Plan for Rural Development, specifically relating to the roll-out of broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38636/18]
View answerI refer to the reply to Question No 618 of 18 September 2018, which details the position in relation to the National Broadband Plan.
By way of update, my Department is now evaluating the Final Tender submission received from the bidding consortium on 18 September 2018. This is a significant milestone as the National Broadband Plan procurement process enters its final stage.
400. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the date for the roll-out of high-speed broadband for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38332/18]
View answerThe premises referred to by the Deputy is in the AMBER area on the High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie, and is therefore included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area, and is now evaluating the Final Tender submission received from the bidding consortium on 18 September 2018. This is a significant milestone as the NBP procurement process enters its final stage.
For those premises currently awaiting access to high speed broadband, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.
Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen. These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities. The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure. The Department of Rural and Community Development maintain a list of Broadband Officers, a link to which is available on my Department's website at
https://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/communications/topics/Broadband/national-broadband-plan/Pages/NBP-Information-Leaflets.aspx.
401. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 1146 of 21 March 2017, the reason the timescale for public consultation in quarter 2 of 2017 was not met in regard to the strategic environmental assessment of the national bioenergy plan, which was drafted in 2014 and has remained in draft form since; the reason the timescale for public consultation in early 2018 which he set out in Parliamentary Question No. 215 of 13 December 2017 was not met; the reason the timescale for public consultation in summer 2018 which he set out in Parliamentary Question No. 1048 of 12 June 2018 was not met; and when the strategic environmental assessment of the draft national bioenergy plan will be put to public consultation. [38345/18]
View answerThe Draft Bioenergy Plan established the policy context for the development of Ireland’s bioenergy sector and set out actions to be undertaken to further the demand for and supply of bioenergy in Ireland. Significant progress has been made in the implementation of these actions including:
- the approval by Government of the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat, the opening for applications of the first phase of the scheme (providing installation grants for heat pumps) earlier this month, and the planned opening of the second phase of the scheme (providing multi-annual support to biomass and anaerobic digestion heating systems) by the end of 2018 subject to State aid approval;
- continued support for bioenergy use in the electricity sector including the approval by Government of the high level design of the new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme in July of this year;
- successive increases in the obligation rate to 8% (January 2017), 10% (January 2019) and 11% (planned for January 2020) under the Biofuels Obligation Scheme which increases the use of biofuels and stimulates demand for competitively priced domestic production;
- increases in February of this year in supports under the Forestry for Fibre Scheme for those landowners planting forestry to supply the energy sector;
- the establishment of Bord na Móna Bioenergy in September 2017; and
- the development and publication of research such as the Assessment of Cost and Benefits of Biogas and Biomethane in Ireland published by the SEAI in July 2017.
In addition to progressing the actions set out in the Draft Bioenergy Plan, work has proceeded in updating the plan itself and its associated Strategic Environmental Assessment and Natura Impact Statement. This update has taken longer than originally anticipated in order to reflect policy developments – including the National Mitigation Plan, the National Development Plan, and the EU’s Clean Energy Package.
As part of the EU’s Clean Energy Package, the recently agreed Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action stipulates that all Member States must develop a draft National Energy and Climate Plan and submit it to the European Commission by the end of 2018.
The scope of the National Energy and Climate Plan covers the full energy system and requires a high level of detail on all sectors, fuels, policies, and support measures. It will, therefore, encompass the policies and measures that would be set out in any revision of the Draft Bioenergy Plan. My Department is currently considering how best to integrate both planning and consultation processes.
402. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the issues being faced by a business (detail supplied) due to the lack of broadband will be reviewed; the status of the roll-out of e-fibre in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38362/18]
View answerThe premises referred to by the Deputy is in the AMBER area on the High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie and is therefore included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area, and is now evaluating the Final Tender submission received from the bidding consortium on 18 September 2018. This is a significant milestone as the NBP procurement process enters its final stage.
Although it seems that there is coverage within a short range of the address referenced, the coverage in question is provided by a commercial operator in the market and the referenced address has not been included on that company's deployment plan. Decisions made by private telecommunication operators relating to the roll out and siting of their infrastructure to provide high-speed broadband services throughout Ireland are matter for each telecommunication operator. I have no statutory role or function to intervene in the commercial decisions of private operators.
For those premises currently awaiting access to high speed broadband, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.
Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen. These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities. The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure. The Department of Rural and Community Development maintain a list of Broadband Officers, a link to which is available on my Department's website at
https://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/communications/topics/Broadband/national-broadband-plan/Pages/NBP-Information-Leaflets.aspx.
