Written Answers Nos. 181-187
181. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on the roll out of the Africa agri-food development fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42199/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince I launched the pilot phase of the AADF in March of this year with my colleagues, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Minister of State for Trade and Development there have been a number of steps in its implementation including:
- An assessment mission to the two host Countries for the Fund, Kenya and Tanzania, in April comprising an official from each of the two lead Departments and Enterprise Ireland as well as the Chief Agricultural Adviser from the Irish Embassy in Dar es Salaam. The team held 26 separate meetings with government, private sector, international agricultural researchers, public academic and research institutions and Irish citizens currently involved in business. Five site visits included factories, retail outlets, food markets and research centres. The Mission validated the establishment of the AADF in particular the increasing use of catalytic funding to stimulate trade and investment in the region. The Mission also identified opportunities in each country for follow up and recommended that the AADF maintains its primary focus on business to business partnerships as the best means of achieving value for input.
- In June I hosted a seminar with relevant Irish Agri-Food companies who may participate in the Fund. The purpose of this seminar was two-fold:
1. An opportunity to gauge private sector interest in participation in the Fund in order to help decide on next steps;
2. Provide Information for Irish food companies on doing business in Africa.
The seminar had presentations from:
- The Assessment team on the outcome of their April visit;
- Irish Embassy Tanzania on support for Irish business from Irish Embassy Network in Africa;
- Glanbia on a case study of their business venture in Senegal;
- Barclays Bank on support from the banking sector for business in Africa.
The seminar was very successful and I was very pleased with the positive feedback from the food companies present which was that they found it informative and were now actively considering participation in the Fund. The success of the Fund ultimately rests on the level of engagement by these companies.
Since the seminar, officials in both Departments have been following up bilaterally with interested companies on possible partnership ventures in Africa and have also been discussing with Bord Bia and the Irish Embassy in Tanzania as to how to take implementation of the Fund further.
In addition to the above, my colleague the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign affairs visited Kenya in July. The Tánaiste visited one of the companies identified in the assessment mission as a potential partner for Irish agri-business companies. This company has also been invited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to participate as a panellist at the forthcoming Africa Ireland Economic Forum on 22 October 2012.
In keeping with the open and transparent nature of the Fund, any latest developments are placed on my Department’s website along with contact details for interested participants. The success of the Fund ultimately rests on the level of engagement by Irish agri-food companies and I am hopeful that its pilot phase will see sustainable partnerships developed between the Irish and African agri-food sectors.
182. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine the steps which are being taken at EU level to address the issue of a foot and mouth disease outbreak, involving a new viral strain in Syria, Gaza and Egypt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42200/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn March 2012, a serotype of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was detected in Egypt and Libya which had not previously been detected outside sub-Saharan Africa. This serotype, known as SAT2, has caused a large scale epidemic of FMD in Egypt and Libya, leading to severe economic losses and threatening food security in the region due to reduced availability of meat.
A single outbreak of the Egyptian SAT2 virus was detected in the Gaza Strip (Palestinian Autonomous Territories) in April. Since April, no further spread of SAT2 FMD has been reported outside Egypt and Libya.
The European Union supports actions to address this issue through DG SANCO funding of the FAO European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD Commission) and has taken a number of emergency actions in response including:
- A series of rapid assessment missions to Egypt in March and April which advised on actions which could be taken to immediately address the situation.
- A series of training workshops in the laboratory diagnosis of FMD, and SAT2 in particular, for laboratory technicians from Egypt, Libya, PAT (Gaza Strip), PAT (West Bank), Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, Chad, Niger, Lebanon.
- Provision of reagents and supplies to enable laboratory diagnosis of FMD, and SAT2 in particular, to the above mentioned countries plus Jordan, Iraq and Syria.
- Coordination of a regional response strategy including risk-based surveillance for early detection of SAT2 spread and vaccination strategies, covering Egypt, Israel, PAT (Gaza Strip), Jordan (at a workshop hosted by Cyprus) and Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania (at a workshop hosted by Morocco), in coordination with the FAO, the OIE, REMESA (the Mediterranean States Union) and UMA (Arabic Maghreb Union).
- Ongoing direct technical support to Egypt and Libya in the form of expert missions, in coordination with FAO.
The civil instability in Syria has made it difficult to accurately assess the FMD situation there. EuFMD Commission has however provided FMD diagnostic kits to the Syrian authorities and is supporting heightened surveillance actions through providing ongoing support to neighbouring Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, as well as Turkey and Israel which are members of the EuFMD Commission.
In order to improve the ability of EU member states to respond effectively to the threat posed by FMD, the EuFMD Commission has a continuing training programme through which state veterinarians are trained in FMD outbreak investigation and control implementation. Five veterinary inspectors from my Department have undergone such training and my Department has also been able to share FMD expertise. Training material produced by my Department for improving bio-security in response to FMD outbreaks has been used by the EuFMD Commission in this training programme.
It is worth noting that although SAT2 is a novel threat to Europe, it is not the only FMD threat, as other serotypes also pose a risk of incursion. FMD is endemic in Anatolian Turkey, the Middle East and Egypt and Libya. There have been several major regional epidemics in North Africa and West Eurasia in recent years and FMD threats to Europe are continually re-assessed. A vaccine bank with several strains of FMD vaccine available is maintained within the EU.
183. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine when a person (details supplied) in County Cork will have their forestry road grant application approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42203/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs part of the processing of applications under the Forest Roads Scheme, the views of designated consultation bodies must be sought before approval can be given. In this case the views of the Southern Regional Fisheries Board, Cork County Council and the National Parks and Wildlife Service have been sought. As soon as their observations are received, a decision will be made on the application of the person named.
184. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine when a decision on single farm payment will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42210/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person concerned is an applicant under the 2012 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme. Currently, this applicant is one of a number whose cases are impacted by a requirement of a minimum stocking density of 0.3 livestock units per forage hectare and who have applied for a derogation in this regard. This application had not been determined in sufficient time to enable payment with the first tranche on 26 September. However, immediately a decision is reached, the person concerned will be notified in writing. Should the decision be negative, a fully independent appeals procedure is available.
185. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine the steps he is taking to ensure that there is a trade for light lambs in the factories, in view of the decision of at least one factory, not to kill any lambs under 15 kilos carcass weight, where in other years factories were accepting lambs down to nine kilos carcass weight; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42214/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe market performance of the sheep sector, in common with other agricultural sectors, is a function of supply and demand. Market conditions for Irish sheepmeat are generally proving more difficult in 2012 than in the previous two years. Factory prices for heavy lambs for the year 2012 to date are approximately 2% below 2011 levels for the corresponding period. This reflects the competitive pressures in the market.
I am aware that market conditions for light lamb are particularly difficult at the moment. There is a glut in the market due to weakened demand for Irish light lamb in the traditional markets in Spain and Italy, caused by the economic downturn in these regions. I understand that Spain is itself exporting higher quantities of light lamb to France at present and this trade is running approximately 30% above last year’s level. Furthermore, these light lamb have traditionally being sold to the store trade, but this year trade has been poor as store lamb producers are reluctant to buy in large quantities on account of high meal costs.
There has been significant public investment in the sheep sector in recent years. One of the main supports has been €54 million for the three-year Grassland Sheep Scheme which commenced in 2010. The sheep fencing/mobile handling equipment Scheme, one of five Targeted Agricultural Modernisations Schemes (TAMS) is also enabling many farmers in the sheep sector to complete the necessary investment works in order to maintain competitiveness and introduce increased efficiencies on the farm and so secure the future of their enterprises. Teagasc has also allocated almost €1.5 million for sheep research for 2012. An Bord Bia will spend over €1.1 million this year on a promotional strategy for the Irish sheep sector which addresses the issue of safeguarding the future of the sector in the following ways: by encouraging Irish consumers to buy more quality assured lamb; by collaborating with its French and English counterparts in a campaign to reverse the decline in consumption of lamb on the French market, which accounts for over 50% of our exports; by working with individual exporter to increase the amount of exports to higher value markets such as Germany and Scandinavia and thereby reduce Ireland’s dependency on the French market.
On a positive note, sheepmeat exports to international markets almost doubled to 600 tonnes during the course of 2011. This generates a great confidence boost for Irish exporters. While almost 99% of our lamb exports are to the EU, it is always beneficial to have a wide range of outlets available and to this end my Department, together with An Bord Bia and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade continues to work to secure access to more third country outlets for Irish lamb. I announced the opening of the Singaporean and South African markets to Irish lamb over the summer. There is strong demand for all meats globally at present and my Department and I remain committed in our efforts to ensure that the Irish sheep sector is able to take full advantage of all of the opportunities that will arise as a result of this demand.
186. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine the position regarding the review of fur farming; when a decision will be made on the report of the fur farming review group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42224/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Fur Farming Review Group submitted its report to my office. In compiling the report, the Group examined all aspects of fur farming within the context of its terms of reference and took account of the arguments and points of view expressed in the submissions it received. My Department will be publishing the report in due course.
187. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine the estimated expenditure under the existing REP scheme and agri environment options scheme including the scheme announced last week for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42356/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the EU Regulations governing the agri-environmental schemes, comprehensive administrative checks, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, as well as field inspections must be completed before payments can issue. Actual expenditure in any one year will depend on the completion of this process on an on-going basis and on the levels of queries and other issues arising on individual claims. In addition, the allocation of funding provided for the Department as a whole and for scheme payments is subject to the annual Estimates process. The funding provided in the Department’s Vote in 2012 is as follows
|
Scheme |
2012 Vote allocation |
|
REPS |
€183.45m |
|
AEOS |
€58m |
