Written Answers Nos. 762-773
762. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the proposals he is seeking to advance in the context of CAP reform to deal with a category of farmers (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43259/21]
View answerThere is no provision currently for supports for the category of Old Young Farmer. This group received support as a separate category under the 2015 National Reserve on a once-off basis.
However, with regard to the group referred to as Forgotten Farmers, which may include some older young farmers, the Programme for Government ‘Our Shared Future’ contains a commitment to seek to resolve, under the next CAP, the issue of support for the category of farmers known as Forgotten Farmers. I stand over that commitment.
The agreed proposals for the new CAP include provision for supports for young farmers and new entrants to farming. The Department is examining options to address the issue of forgotten farmers as part of the next CAP.
The outline of any schemes supported under the next CAP and details of the Terms and Conditions for eligibility under such schemes, or for other supports available, will be set out once all the relevant EU Regulations are agreed and finalised.
763. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the extremely serious shortage of staff in the pigmeat slaughter and butchering sector; if immediate steps will be taken to address by whatever means this issue which seriously affects the industry on the island of Ireland; if he will expedite the necessary procedures in order to bring about immediate beneficial effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43356/21]
View answerMy Department monitors the employment situation in the agri-food sector and engages with stakeholders on issues arising on an ongoing basis. As you may be aware, the CSO reports that the sector accounts for 7.1% of total employment, or approximately 164,000 jobs. Being primarily based in rural and coastal areas, these jobs are crucial to the economy.
I and my officials have engaged with representatives of the sector on labour supply issues in meat processing, including pig meat, and encouraged them to avail of the range of supports available from the Department of Social Protection to help employers source labour. In the first instance, employers should seek to recruit from within the domestic and European Economic Area (EEA) labour markets. The sector itself must also continue to intensify its efforts to make these roles more attractive and I acknowledge their efforts in this regard.
However, as in the past, it may also be necessary to make use of work permits for applicants from labour markets outside the EEA. My Department liaises on this issue with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who have responsibility in this regard.
764. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will address a matter regarding the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43357/21]
View answerAll entitlements allocated under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and the National Reserve are subject to a two-year usage rule. If a farmer has unused entitlements for two consecutive years, the lowest value entitlements held by that farmer revert to the National Reserve in the second year of non-usage. As the named person did not submit a BPS application for more than two years his entitlements reverted to the National Reserve.
Late applications for the years in question have been submitted along with an appeal on force majeure grounds by the named person's Agricultural agent.
The named person submitted a 2021 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) application which was received on 22/02/21. An official from the Department has been in contact with the Agricultural Agent seeking additional material in relation to the Appeal. Once received, the additional information will be examined and a decision will be made in relation to the Appeal.
765. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide the necessary funding to resurface and remark at a location (details supplied); and, if so, when these works will commence. [43389/21]
View answerHowth is one of six Fishery Harbour Centres managed under the Fishery Harbour Centres Act 1968; the others are located at Castletownbere, Dingle, Dunmore East, Ros an Mhíl and Killybegs.
Funding is made available on an annual basis by the Department to the FHCs, including Howth, via the Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme. A phased programme for the infrastructural development of Howth FHC has been progressed over the last number of years, which has seen a significant investment. In total, approx €14.7m has been invested in capital developments at Howth FHC between 2010 and 2020. Furthermore, a total of €8.295m has been allocated for capital works in the harbour in 2021.
As the car park on the West pier is surfaced and clearly marked, I believe the Deputy is referring to the car park between the West and Middle Piers. I am happy to advise the Deputy that of late this area has had a new drainage system installed and it is now fully operational. Any further works on the car park will be considered on the basis of available Exchequer funding, competing national priorities and compatibility with existing activities, as is the case for any other capital projects in each of the Fishery Harbour Centres.
766. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated full-year cost of increasing the hours his officials are present at the border control post at Dublin Airport from the current hours of 9 am to 5.45 pm Monday to Friday to 7.30 am to 10 pm seven days a week. [43390/21]
View answerThe hours of operation for DAFM staff at Dublin Airport are 9am to 5.45pm Monday to Friday. No service is provided on Sunday. Occasionally service is provided on a Saturday to deal with urgent matters. The opening hours of each Border Control Post are based on the demand for services required at each site. My Department has not received any requests to extend the operational hours at Dublin Airport and I am satisfied that the current opening hours are sufficient to meet existing demand. So far in 2021, Dublin Airport BCP has processed 1,569 consignments compared to 38,060 consignments that have been processed at Dublin Port.
The estimated costs of extending the hours of service from the current hours to 7.30 to 10 pm seven days a week are as follows. This arrangement would require DAFM to operate five teams at Dublin Airport rather than the current two team arrangement. This would require DAFM to recruit three additional Veterinary Inspectors, three additional Agricultural Inspectors and six additional Clerical Officer Portal Inspectors at an annual additional cost of €573,000. There would be a requirement for the payment of shift premiums arising from working irregular hours and Sundays. There would also be a requirement to extend the hours of operation of the current facilities management contract with a projected increase cost in the region of €135,000.
The additional costs associated with extending the hours of DAFM operation at Dublin Airport cannot be justified based on existing demand. It may be noted that DAFM has already has 185 full-time staff working on import controls at border control posts.
767. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of veterinary officers his Department has available to support the implementation of the proposed changes, further to his statement on 6 July 2021 in relation to further post-Brexit changes for food exports from Ireland to the UK; the number of additional veterinary officers his Department will have in place by 1 October 2021 and 1 January 2022, respectively, to support the implementation of new rules covering products of animal origin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43417/21]
View answerVeterinary Inspectors (VIs) work in a variety of roles across the Department, including in food safety, animal health and welfare, the provision of laboratory services, import controls and the certification of exports.
The Government is committed to providing support for the agri-food sector in adapting to new trading arrangements and in preparing for the further Brexit-related challenges expected later this year and in 2022.
The Department currently has 255 Veterinary Inspectors in place to deliver the range of services required across all areas of its remit and VI recruitment is continuing in light of expected demands for export certification. The number of Veterinary Inspectors engaged by my Department is expected to rise to approximately 270 by January 2022.
Additionally, the Department has scope to engage non-permanent veterinary contractors to support any short-term export certification requirements for an interim phase, whilst clear requirements are established and as a contingency for any delays while the final recruitment processes are completed.
It should be noted that veterinary inspectors are just one essential cohort of staff required for export certification and that a range of other disciplines, including technical, administrative and IT staff have been put in place to deliver this function on behalf of my Department.
768. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of Irish food export companies that will be impacted by changes proposed as part of the post-Brexit process which could cause significant disruption for food exports from Ireland specifically in relation to products of animal origin which are due to be introduced on 1 October 2021; the details of his engagement with Bord Bia and with Enterprise Ireland on the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43418/21]
View answerThe UK's departure from the EU Single Market and Customs Union at the end of 2020, in accordance with the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), has resulted in very significant changes to the EU-UK trading environment.
The UK has been applying a phased approach to the introduction of new import control requirements. In this regard the Deputy may wish to note that the UK Government announced this week that the next phase of these controls, due to come into force from 1st October 2021, has been deferred, with pre-notification requirements now commencing on 1st January 2022, and export health certification and Border Control Post inspections commencing on 1st July 2022.
I would emphasise that these new UK requirements will represent significant change, and all exporters of products of animal origin will be affected by them, including exporters of meat, meat preparations, prepared consumer foods, dairy products, fishery products, honey and eggs.
The Department has been engaged in a wide range of activities to get ready, and to help industry get ready, and we will be continuing these activities to meet the newly announced UK timelines. We have engaged extensively with all stakeholders in the supply chain through trials, testing, information webinars and training sessions.
The Department is also implementing an extensive additional staff resource plan to support the increased demand for export health certification, and IT systems and infrastructure has been upgraded across the country to support the provision of export health certification to businesses.
The Department also continues to engage regularly with the UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to press for decisions on outstanding issues, including certification queries, requirements for products transiting the landbridge, UK Border Control Post infrastructure and procedures in British ports.
There has also been significant engagement and collaboration between my Department and both Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland on Brexit issues, including around the introduction of new UK import requirements.
There has been a wide range of jointly organised business events, participation in Government stakeholder consultations, the development of information materials for food businesses and, specifically with Bord Bia, collaboration on their Brexit Barometer and Brexit Readiness Radar initiatives. Both Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland continue to grow the range of supports they have available for Irish food exporters, not just for exporters to UK but also to support businesses in diversifying into other third country markets.
769. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applications to the reconstitution and underplanting scheme; the number of those applications which were successful, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43444/21]
View answer817. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the person or body responsible for ensuring that invasive diseases affecting forestry were not imported to Ireland at the time and prior to the first occurrence of ash dieback in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44078/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 769 and 817 together.
Most trees planted in Irish forests are home grown trees. We are generally self-sufficient and a net exporter of forestry trees. Occasionally when there is a shortage of specific tree species at the end of a planting season trees are imported. DAFM guidance is clear though – forestry owners are strongly encouraged to use trees of Irish provenance when planting.
The ash trees were not inspected by the Department on arrival as there are no import controls within the EU. It is a single market. All goods, including plants are not therefore generally checked on arrival into Ireland from other EU member states.
Under European Plant Health legislation (The Plant Health Regulation 2016/2031) there are rules around the movement of plants and plant products within the EU. At the time of the first finding of Ash dieback into Ireland the disease, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus , was not and is still not a regulated disease within the EU.
Ireland and the UK, in fact, were the first countries to introduce emergency national legislation to restrict imports of ash plants from other Member States.
In order to justify the continuation of such legislative restrictions, which otherwise may be deemed by the European Commission to be unjustified and deemed to be introducing barriers to the free movement of goods (plants and plant products) within the internal market, authorities in both Ireland and the UK (which has near comparable legislative restrictions) had to produce a Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) report which reflected the current status of the pathogen from surveillance in their respective territories.
The Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme (RUS) (Ash Dieback) was announced on the 10th June 2020 and applications could be submitted from the 22nd June 2020.
In July, as the Scheme had been in operation for a year, it was time to assess the response to the Scheme. One question that had arisen was the availability of management options for plantations greater than 25 years of age.
After careful consideration these management options were revised as set out in Circular 12/2021 of 23rd July 2021, which was published on my Department’s pages on the Government of Ireland website, gov.ie. All ash plantations that exceed 7m top height with a medium level of stem infection are now eligible for under-planting and with high level stem infection are eligible for reconstitution. This change brings sites over 25 year of age into the Scheme.
To date, the Department has received 377 applications for RUS for 1,499ha, of which 115 have been approved for 405ha. A county breakdown is shown in the table below.
|
County |
Applications |
Approved |
|
Carlow |
6 |
2 |
|
Cavan |
14 |
7 |
|
Clare |
30 |
2 |
|
Cork |
34 |
8 |
|
Donegal |
1 |
0 |
|
Dublin |
1 |
0 |
|
Galway |
25 |
12 |
|
Kerry |
14 |
3 |
|
Kildare |
7 |
0 |
|
Kilkenny |
20 |
8 |
|
Laois |
11 |
4 |
|
Leitrim |
4 |
0 |
|
Limerick |
21 |
0 |
|
Longford |
13 |
7 |
|
Louth |
2 |
0 |
|
Mayo |
28 |
2 |
|
Meath |
18 |
0 |
|
Monaghan |
7 |
7 |
|
Offaly |
15 |
10 |
|
Roscommon |
4 |
0 |
|
Sligo |
2 |
0 |
|
Tipperary |
39 |
13 |
|
Waterford |
11 |
4 |
|
Westmeath |
23 |
8 |
|
Wexford |
18 |
12 |
|
Wicklow |
9 |
6 |
|
Total |
377 |
115 |
770. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the basis on which land will be determined to have higher environmental priorities with regard to the agri-environment climate measure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43445/21]
View answerThere has been no final decision on which land will be prioritised for higher environmental priorities. The decision will be based on an evaluation of areas of high semi-natural habitat, priority habitats and species within these, in line with the Prioritised Action Framework and developed in consultation with other relevant Departments and bodies.
771. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the criteria which will determine if an area is deemed to be in deficit resulting in targeted incentives with regard to the organic farming scheme during the next CAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43446/21]
View answerThe Strategy for the Development of the Organic Sector highlighted the deficits that exist in horticulture, dairy and cereals.
The insufficient supply of organic cereals and proteins was deemed by the Group to be inhibiting the growth of the dairy, meat and aquaculture sectors. These findings were was based on feedback and analysis from stakeholders, particularly in the processing and retail sectors, Bord Bia and other relevant bodies.
The recommendations made within the Strategy are primarily aimed at promoting organic food production in line with market demand and addressing the shortfall in specific sub-sectors. The implementation of the actions detailed in the Strategy is regarded as a priority and critical to the further development of the organic sector in Ireland.
It is my intention to ensure that any measures contained in the Organic Farming Scheme in the next CAP will address such deficits in order to meet market demand and ensure sustainable development. I also want to build on the success to date and achieve our commitment to align Ireland’s organic land area with that of the current EU average of approximately 7.5% over the lifetime of this Government.
772. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of lambs imported to Ireland during the years 2016 to 2020 and to date in 2021, by month, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43447/21]
View answer773. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the tonnage of sheep meat imported to Ireland during the years 2016 to 2020 and to date in 2021, by month, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43448/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 772 and 773 together.
I am very conscious of the important role that the sheep sector plays in the continued growth and development of our agri-food sector, and its valuable contribution to the rural economy.
The strong performance of the sector in 2020 has continued into 2021. Reductions in production globally and increased demand are expected to support continued strong performance throughout 2021.
The Sheep Welfare Scheme was introduced in December 2016 as part of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme, having been agreed with the European Commission. In the four years of the scheme to date, €66.9 million has been paid to 18,268 farmers. The Sheep Welfare scheme has been extended in 2021 as part of the transition arrangements prior to the next CAP and work is underway on development of supports for the sustainable development of the sheep sector under the next CAP.
The tables below show the volume of sheep meat and live sheep trade in the period requested. By way of comparison for the first half of 2021 (January - June), Ireland exported over 26,000 tonnes of sheepmeat worth over €170million.
