Written Answers Nos. 296-315
296. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 533 of 25 May 2021, if a site was planted in 2019, but the grant was not paid out until 2020, if that area is included in the 2019 or 2020 programme; if the area was not and never has been included in both years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33676/21]
View answerNewly established afforestation is only counted in statistics for the year in which it was paid as it is, at that stage, that there is confirmation that the afforestation has been completed. As regards a site planted in 2019 and paid for in 2020, the area planted would be included in 2020 statistics.
297. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 536 of 25 May 2021, if his prediction for a higher output for May has materialised; if so, the reason the recent forestry dashboard has shown a week-on-week decline on the output of licences being issued; if he will intervene with the Assistant Secretary to make sure at least 100 licences are issued as declared by the Assistant Secretary with his statement to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33677/21]
View answerAs predicted, there has been an increase in licence output from mid-May which has continued each week since. The Department has issued an average of 90-100 licences for the last five weeks and we expect this week to be similar. This resulted in May being the second highest month in terms of licences issued this year and we expect June to be the highest month of the year so far. The vast majority of licences issued in recent weeks have been to private landowners and farmers.
We remain committed to issuing 4,500 forestry licences this year, which is an increase of 75% on 2020. To 18 June, 1,594 licences have issued, with 99 licences issued last week. As outlined previously, there will be weekly fluctuations within individual months. However we believe that the second half of the year will be higher than the first half for licences issued and that the 4,500 target will be met by year-end.
298. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 537 of 25 May 2021, if he will make available or publish the advice received for the significant changes to its appropriate assessment procedure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33678/21]
View answerThere were many discussions with environmental consultants, amongst others, at the time with clear advice around the Department moving to the implementation of the wider zone of influence. As previously outlined, the decision to move to the 15km was based on a number of factors including the advice from environmental consultants, NPWS, feedback from the FAC and industry standards in other sectors.
299. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 538 of 25 May 2021, if the new project manager for Project Woodland (details supplied) has to answer to the Assistant Secretary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33679/21]
View answerThe Project Manager is part of the forestry team based in the Department and was specifically recruited to oversee the implementation of Project Woodland. This project is one part of the Department's overall work on forestry which is overseen by the Assistant Secretary with responsibility for the area.
300. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 539 of 25 May 2021, the number of licences withdrawn to date in 2021 by Coillte; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33680/21]
View answerThere were three licence applications withdrawn by Coillte to date in 2021. It is the decision of the applicant to withdraw an application which may be made for various reasons.
301. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 540 of 25 May 2021, the number of licence applications that have been made to the Forest Service by Coillte and or Bord na Móna for the new industrial cutaway woodland; the number that have been approved to date by the Forestry Service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33681/21]
View answerThe Department has not yet accepted any application for native woodland creation on former industrial cutaway peatlands and no licence has been approved to date under this Pilot Scheme.
302. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 541 of 25 May 2021, if he will refer the forestry service to the Committee of Public Accounts to examine if the taxpayer is getting value for money; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33682/21]
View answerAs previously outlined, as Divisions within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, both the Forestry Division and Forestry Division Inspectorate are amenable to the Public Accounts Committee.
The Irish forestry sector is a significant employer in rural Ireland of almost 12,000 jobs. Improving the licensing situation is a key priority for me, Minister of State Pippa Hackett who has responsibility for forestry and the Department and no effort is being spared to achieve this. We need to maintain an intense focus on achieving this. Some early progress is being made with licences up 23% year-on-year and I fully expect this figure to increase as the year goes on, accepting that last year was especially low in terms of output.
Delays in forestry licensing arose because of a very significant change in procedures in relation to Appropriate Assessment as a result of European Court of Justice judgements and subsequent interpretation by the Irish courts and the Forestry Appeals Committee. Every effort has been made to address this situation with additional inspectorate, ecology and administrative resources recruited, along with training and guidance for both Departmental staff and registered foresters.
The complexity of introducing a completely new assessment procedure inevitably took time to take effect and this has affected output. Having said that, there have been recent gains in productivity, with the 1,594 licences issued to date this year representing a 23% increase on the same period last year. As regards felling, a volume of just over 3.1 million cubic metres has issued so far this year, which is a 58% increase on the same period last year and represents 76% of the COFORD Roundwood Forecast which predicts a potential harvest of 4.1 million cubic metres in 2021.
While we moving in the right direction, we are more than aware of the impact of the backlog on the sector and, in order to improve the functioning and delivery of the licensing process, Minister Hackett, launched Project Woodland in February. This puts in place a framework consisting of a Project Board and four Working Groups, chaired by independent chairs and with outside stakeholders as members, which aims at resolving the backlog and introducing more efficient and effective processes. The process improvement exercise will examine, among other things, whether resources may be deployed more effectively and an organisational review of forestry teams within the Department will consider the structure, roles and responsibilities of these teams relative to outputs sought.
Along with Minister of State Pippa Hackett, I remain hopeful that the framework now in place under Project Woodland will address our current difficulties and will result in a licensing system which meets the needs of forest owners and new applicants and the forestry sector as a whole.
303. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the percentage of fish landing and quotas both in weight and value that Irish fishing boats derive from Ireland's exclusive economic zone territorial waters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33683/21]
View answerUnder the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), official landing statistics are reported by Member States by ICES division, rather than by Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and most ICES divisions straddle more than one EEZ area. However, landings are also reported by ICES rectangles - these are smaller sub-divisions of the sea area used for statistical analysis. While reports by ICES rectangles are not official landing declarations, they can be used to provide a reasonable estimate of the EEZ from which these landings were caught.
The attached figures compiled by the Marine Institute set out the average estimated weight and average approximate value of landings by Irish vessels as a proportion of the total weight and value of landings from the Irish EEZ for the periods 2011 to 2015 and 2015 to 2019.
The Irish fleet catches fish inside and outside the Irish EEZ. On average, approximately, one third of the Irish fleet's total catch comes from outside the Irish EEZ.
As the Deputy is aware, the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) will, unfortunately, have an impact on our fishing industry. However, this impact would have been far greater had the Barnier Task Force agreed to UK demands, or had we been in a no-deal scenario which would have seen all EU vessels barred from UK waters and subsequent displacement into Ireland's fishing zone.
I wish to assure the Deputy that I, as Minister, and this Government intend to continue to keep the focus on the disproportionate quota reductions for Ireland and to use any opportunity available to seek constructive solutions that would help to alleviate this unacceptable position.
Average estimated weight and average approximate value of landings by Irish vessels as a proportion of the total weight and value of landings from the Irish EEZ for the periods 2011 to 2015 and 2015 to 2019
|
2011-2015 |
2015-2019 |
||
|
Average landings from the IE EEZ as a proportion of total landings from the IE EEZ |
Average value from the IE EEZ as a proportion of total value from the IE EEZ |
Average landings from the IE EEZ as a proportion of total landings from the IE EEZ |
Average value from the IE EEZ as a proportion of total value from the IE EEZ |
|
41.5% |
36.4% |
35.5% |
38.3% |
304. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way a person (details supplied) in County Cork can access the REAP scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33714/21]
View answerThe Results-Based Environment Agri Pilot project (REAP) closed for applications on 10th May 2021.
The REAP terms and conditions state that any applicant who has been a participant in specific EIP projects as listed in Annex 3, including the Hen Harrier project, since January 1st 2021 was not eligible to apply to join the REAP project.
The information available to the Department indicates that the person named had a signed contract with the Hen Harrier project and was, therefore, not eligible to submit an application for the REAP project. The Department have been in direct contact with the person named on a number of occasions to outline the position.
305. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers who will gain under full convergence; the number of farmers who will lose under full convergence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33790/21]
View answer306. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers by farm size who are gaining under convergence and the number losing under convergence within parameters (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33791/21]
View answer307. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers by stocking density who are gaining under convergence and the number of farmers losing under convergence within parameters (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33792/21]
View answer308. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a breakdown will be provided of the gains under full convergence by number of farmers who will gain within parameters (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33793/21]
View answer309. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a breakdown will be provided of the losses under full convergence by number of farmers who will lose within parameters (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33794/21]
View answer310. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a breakdown will be provided of the number of farmers whose current payment is less than €15,000, BPS and greening that will lose under full convergence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33795/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 305 to 310, inclusive, together.
The data requested by the Deputy will take some time to prepare and will be forwarded to him as soon as possible.
311. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will intervene regarding recent changes in mackerel licences for small fisherman in view of investments made ranging from €10,000 to €15,000 and time spent in fisheries school in Greencastle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33801/21]
View answerManagement of the National Mackerel quota is set down in Ministers Policy which has been developed and put in place over a number of years. The allocation of 400 tonnes for a fishery for smaller vessels using hook and line as a means of fishing was set down in Ministerial Policy in 2010. The Minister amended the Mackerel policy in July 2017 after intensive review and public consultation. This amendment did not involve the hook and line fishery. The mackerel Policy sets down that the hook and line fishery for vessels under 15m in overall length receive 400t. This allocation for the fishery has been landed, and indeed exceeded and, on that basis, I had no option but to close this fishery.
In order to amend Mackerel Policy, I must be satisfied that there is satisfactory evidence of changed circumstances to justify a policy review. If I consider there is a case for review of any aspect policy, it would require due process involving an assessment of all issues arising, including full public consultation.
There has been for the past 20 years or so, intensive competition within the industry for access to and a higher share of the mackerel quota. The EU/U.K. Trade and Co-operation Agreement provides for the transfer of 26% of Ireland’s mackerel quota by 2026 to the U.K. This will only increase demands for higher shares of Ireland’s quota from all sectors within the fishing fleet. It is worth noting that the 400t for the hook and line fishery has not been reduced. Unfortunately the situation is that if there is an increase for any sector, such as the hook and line fishery, it must be taken from others who are already facing significant cuts under the EU/ U.K. TCA.
312. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a felling licence will be issued (details supplied); and the status of same. [33816/21]
View answerThe application referred to was received in mid-March and it was advertised on the Department’s website. The application is available in the Forestry Licence Viewer (FLV), including supporting documentation received with the application.
The application is currently being processed. The decision, when available will be advertised and the decision documents will be available in the FLV.
313. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 1,126 of 28 April 2021, the status of his engagement with the European Commission on the allocation of the €79 million for agri-environmental pilot measures in the 2021 budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33924/21]
View answerThe European Commission approved the tenth amendment to the Rural Development Programme (2014-2022) on 19th May 2021.
The Department is now in the process of allocating the €79 million funding secured in Budget 2021 to the various agri-environmental measures that were agreed in the amendment. The final allocations will be subject to sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
314. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on and response to the Oireachtas committee on agriculture and the marine report on the issues impacting the forestry sector in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33925/21]
View answerThe Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture met earlier this year and produced a report to which the Deputy refers in March, on issues impacting the forestry sector in Ireland. I very much welcome the Committee's detailed consideration of these issues. The report included a number of recommendations, to which my colleague Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, has responded directly.
The majority of the recommendations made in the Committee's report are being addressed through the work of Project Woodland. This initiative aims to ensure that the current backlog in licensing is addressed and to bring a new impetus to woodland creation in Ireland. It is based on the recommendations of Ms Jo O’Hara who had been asked to advise on the implementation of the Mackinnon Report, and involves a review and refresh of the Department’s processes and procedures through working groups comprised of a wide range of stakeholders.
It is a task-driven process, with clear deliverables and milestones and its implementation is well under way and is of highest priority to the Department. The structure of Project Woodland consists of a Project Board and 4 Working Groups.
Two working groups are looking at the licensing situation. Working Group 1 is tasked with looking at the backlog. This Group has examined in detail the cases on hand and is producing specific recommendations for improving output. which will be brought to the Project Board for consideration. Working Group 4 is concentrating on licensing process improvement. A business analyst has commenced work on an end-to-end process review. In addition, proposals for a pre-application process and a planning grant are under development and will be submitted to the Project Board shortly. The Group is also actively considering how best to conduct a regulatory review of the licensing system.
Communication is another important aspect of Project Woodland and Working Group 3 is working on a new Customer Charter for forestry, and the development of a communication strategy. A review of the organisational structure of the forestry division within the Department will also be carried out and the roles and interaction with COFORD, Teagasc and Coillte will be examined.
Working Group 2 is also developing a public engagement strategy as part of the development of the new Forest Strategy. It is envisaged that all stakeholders in the forestry sector as well as the general public will be included in this process, and this should help identify both opportunities and barriers to afforestation. Furthermore, Irish Rural Link has been commissioned by Minister Hackett to conduct a study to determine the level and type of engagement of communities with forestry and to make recommendations for the future.
The Forestry Policy group is meeting later this week at which a full update on progress to date will be provided to all stakeholders.
Minister Hackett's response to the Committee’s report also included the Department’s position on other issues raised, specifically questions on Ash Dieback disease and Dutch Elm disease. The Department has since presented to the Committee on its plans for licence delivery for the rest of the year and we will continue to engage with the Committee on its implementation.
315. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way in which he addresses Ireland’s commitments under European Council Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33926/21]
View answerThe Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine takes its responsibilities in the matter of animal welfare very seriously and exercises close oversight, and deploys considerable resources to the area of animal welfare in general, including in respect of animals being transported.
Under EU Regulation 1/2005, exporters must submit journey logs and other documentation to the Department for advance assessment by an Official Veterinarian, which is supported by further official controls on the day of travel, including identity checks for all animals, and confirmation of transporter authorisation by Department officials. The Official Veterinarian carries out a health and welfare check on animals, inspects the vehicle, and monitors loading.
As you will be aware, additional measures are regularly taken to further enhance and safeguard animal welfare during transport, in line with the principles of EU Regulation 1/2005 and further enhanced by national legislation. This includes specific legislation for approval of dedicated livestock carriers and Ro-Ro vessels carrying livestock, setting down standards for the vessel management and the vessel itself. In 2020, additional measures included increased space in lorries for young calves and a requirement on drivers to retrain every three years instead of 10 years.
Finally, the Programme for Government contains an undertaking to provide additional funding to support animal welfare in the coming years to which I am fully committed. In this regard, in December 2020, I announced record funding of €3.2 million to 101 animal welfare organisations throughout the country.
