Written Answers Nos. 690-703
690. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the cost of implementing a living wage of €11.50 per hour for all employees directly employed or in agencies funded by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10093/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraBased on introducing a minimal threshold hourly rate of €11.50, the estimated additional annual cost for staff employed by my Department would be approximately €241,000.
The parallel information in respect of State Bodies under the aegis of my Department is a matter for the Bodies themselves.
691. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a supplementary ANC payment will issue to a person (details supplied). [10134/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn application under the 2016 Areas of Natural Constraint Schemes was received from the person named on 25 April 2016. Processing of the application has recently been finalised under the scheme and payment will issue to the nominated bank account of the person named shortly.
692. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the date he first received a draft copy of the Irish Greyhound Board's 2015 annual report; when the final report will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10135/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraBord na gCon is a commercial state body, established in 1958, under the Greyhound Industry Act 1958, chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. Bord na gCon is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Bord na gCon submitted its 2015 draft unaudited annual report to my Department on the 26th February 2016.
Bord na gCon has informed me that the 2015 annual report is available on its website.
693. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a GLAS payment will issue to a person (details supplied). [10137/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person named was approved into GLAS 1 with a contract commencement date of 1 October 2015 and has received full entitlements in respect of the 2015 scheme year.
During the 2016 prepayment checking process an issue presented on the computerised crosscheck of Department databases. Department officials are actively working to resolve this issue with a view to further processing the application for the 2016 payment as soon as possible.
694. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a TAMS II payment will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10138/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe applicant in this case paid a deposit on an investment item prior to the receipt of approval under the scheme which is not allowed under the Terms and Conditions of the TAMS II Scheme.
The case is being processed and the Department will be in direct contact with the applicant when the case is finalised.
695. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a GLAS payment will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Mayo, in view of the fact that the delay is causing undue financial hardship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10140/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person named was approved into GLAS 1 with a contract commencement date of 1 October 2015 and has received full entitlements in respect of the 2015 scheme year.
During the 2016 prepayment checking process an issue presented on the computerised crosscheck of Department databases. Department officials are actively working to resolve this issue with a view to further processing the application for the 2016 payment as soon as possible.
696. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to a recent judgment by the European Court of Justice (details supplied) concerning fishing off Western Sahara; if his attention has been further drawn to any Irish vessels doing this; and if his Department has provided advice to Irish companies in this regard and to respect the court's judgment. [10147/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe current Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EU & Morocco entered into force on 28 February 2007 for a period of 4 years and has been renewed twice since that date. The current protocol to this Agreement was adopted by the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 16 December 2013 and entered into force on 15 July 2014 following the completion of internal ratification procedures by Morocco. When the EU-Morocco FPA was adopted by the Agriculture Council in May 2006, Ireland supported the proposal but issued a statement stating that this support was on the basis that it did not prejudice the longstanding position of the EU on the status of the Western Sahara.
The FPA with Morocco is considered one of the EU’s most important bilateral fisheries agreements. Under the protocol, the EU provides a financial contribution to the Moroccan authorities each year in exchange for fishing opportunities for Community fishermen in Moroccan waters.
When the process of negotiation began on the current protocol, Ireland sought that any agreement should be more transparent and should include clear and specific reporting on the benefits of the Agreement to the Western Sahara. Specifically, in 2013 Ireland joined with other Member States in a statement emphasizing the importance of having regard to human rights and self determination in terms of the implementation of the agreement
Ireland continues to be a firm supporter of the right to self-determination of the people of the Western Sahara and the Government remains firmly committed to this principle. Previously, the advice of the Council’s Legal Service has been that the FPA with Morocco did not entail a de jure recognition of Morocco’s legal rights in respect of the area. Therefore there was no conflict between Ireland’s position on the Western Sahara and its support for the agreement.
Eleven Member States, including Ireland, are allocated fishing opportunities under this agreement. Ireland receives a quota of 2,500 tonnes each year in the FPA’s industrial pelagic category. All applications to fish under this FPA are submitted to the European Commission via my Department. No Irish fishing vessel has sought to avail of these fishing opportunities or operate in Moroccan waters under this FPA since 2007, 10 years ago.
This FPA is continuously monitored by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council. As part of the agreement, Morocco must provide regular, detailed reports on the use of the financial contribution for the fisheries sector, including the economic and social benefits on a geographical basis. There is also a mechanism for the possible suspension of the agreement, including in the event of violations of human rights and democratic principles.
My Department is aware of the judgement by the Court of Justice of the European Union dated 21 December 2016. The Department is not aware of any statement from the European Commission or the Council to date regarding the Court judgment or any indication of any plans to introduce amendments to the existing fisheries protocol in place between the European Union and Morocco. My Department will continue to monitor this issue closely.
697. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a review is to be carried out to allow a person (details supplied) the opportunity to apply for entitlements of the basic payment scheme 2015 under force majeure. [10222/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person named submitted a Force Majeure application to my Department requesting the value of entitlements he sold in 2014 to be taken into consideration when calculating his entitlement allocation under the Basic Payment Scheme.
My Department examined the circumstances of this application and despite exploring all possible avenues the application was deemed to be unsuccessful as it did not fit the criteria required to deem it a case of ‘force majeure’. Furthermore the entitlements which were sold by the person named in 2014 have subsequently been used to calculate the value of entitlements in the accounts of the purchasers.
The person named was informed in writing of this decision and provided with the option to further appeal his case to the Agriculture Appeals Office. To date no such appeal has been received.
698. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will immediately stand down Bord na gCon as the first step in addressing the mismanagement of an industry that has received large amounts of public money, in view of the litany of problems in the greyhound industry. [10237/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraBord na gCon is a commercial state body, established in 1958 under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, charged with the regulation and development of the greyhound racing industry. Bord na gCon is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
I am satisfied that the Chairman and Board of Bord na gCon continue to discharge their functions and that against the background of a difficult operating environment over the past number of years, they are taking positive steps to address the issues identified in the Indecon Report, the Report of the Joint Committee for Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the Greyhound industry in Ireland and more recently in the Morris Report, including those in relation to finance, governance and integrity services.
I expect to bring the Heads of a new Greyhound Racing Bill to cabinet soon which address the governance of Bord na gCon, strengthen regulatory controls in the industry, modernise sanctions and improve integrity with a view to building a reputation for exceptional regulation in the sector.
699. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the meaning implied when his Department states the term "IT functionality"; the details of the IT functionality failures that are causing agricultural payments to be so severely delayed; the action being taken to rectify these IT functionality problems; the length of time he expects it will take before persons can expect overdue payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10239/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has a very good reputation in the delivery of schemes. ICT systems to support all Pillar 1 and over 20 Pillar 2 schemes have already been delivered in the first two years of the new CAP Programme. This equates to more than one new scheme every month and no other country in the EU has come close to this level of delivery. Ireland has so far drawn down some 32% of its allocated funding for the period of the programme. In contrast the average EU drawdown to-date stands at 14%. Ireland has delivered at nearly 2½ times the European average. Also as an example, Northern Ireland has just this month launched its first agri-environmental scheme under the CAP 2015-2020 Programme. Ireland has already successfully launched three GLAS schemes and two Organic Farm schemes. This rate of delivery could only have been made possible by the availability of very dedicated delivery teams and high quality ICT systems which have provided excellent support in the operation of the schemes.
GLAS payments underway since December 2016 represent the first full year payment schedule under the GLAS scheme. More than 28,000 participants in the scheme received 85% of their payment totalling almost €100 million before the end of last year. To date 30,700 participants have been paid which represents 83% of total scheme participants. Payments runs will continue on a weekly basis.
The majority of the outstanding applications involve cases where the computer system has discovered issues which by their nature require manual intervention to resolve. These applications require further investigation and are being gone through on an individual basis. These cases, many of which are quite complex to resolve or require further feedback from the farmer, can take a considerable effort to resolve. They are being addressed with the greatest urgency possible to ensure that the farmer gets paid as soon as possible.
I can assure the Deputy that everything is being done to ensure the earliest possible resolution of these cases.
700. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a GLAS payment will issue to a person (details supplied). [10242/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person named was approved into GLAS 1 with a contract commencement date of 1 October 2015 and has received full entitlements in respect of the 2015 scheme year.
During the 2016 prepayment checking process an issue presented on the computerised crosscheck of Department databases. Department officials are actively working to resolve this issue with a view to further processing the application for the 2016 payment as soon as possible.
701. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is any compensation scheme or hardship fund for a person who has suffered significant financial and stock losses due to attacks by a wild dog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10243/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIncidents of sheep being maimed and killed by roaming dogs is of great concern to me and I would ask all dog owners in both urban and rural areas to ensure that they are aware of the whereabouts of their dogs at all times.
While my Department is not in a position to compensate for sheep losses due to dog attacks, I would urge all farmers to heed the advice of the farming organisations and ensure adequate insurance is in place as a means of protection from financial loss against an unforeseen event such as a sheep kill. Any farmer that has lost sheep as a result of attacks by dogs should get a valuation of the losses and inform their insurance company of any losses as soon as possible after the incident occurs.
702. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is support available to persons who continue to struggle with the financial burden of superlevy fines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10249/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am fully aware of issues facing dairy farmers and I am committed to working with all stakeholders in the sector to address these issues and ensure that we have a sustainable dairy sector going forward.
With respect to superlevy repayments, the rules governing the EU milk quota regime, including the superlevy system for production above quota, were set at EU level. It is not within the gift of individual Member States to amend these rules.
However at the request of Ireland and some other Member States, the EU Commission introduced a provision last year permitting payment of the levy in three annual instalments, without interest. This was on the understanding that the full amount of the levy was paid to the Commission by the Member State in 2015. Ireland was one of the few Member States to implement this scheme and make it available to our farmers. The farmers who applied are currently in their final year of repayments.
There are a number of other initiatives at industry, national and EU level aimed at mitigating market volatility in the dairy sector. The EU Commission has responded to these difficulties through the deployment of support measures provided for under the CAP. Market difficulties continued into the middle of 2016 and the Commission presented a further package of measures at the Agri-Fish Council in July. The main component is a fund of €500 million.
The main element of the EU July 2016 package is a €350 million fund that will be allocated to Member States in the form of national envelopes, which Member States can use in accordance with their domestic circumstances. As part of Budget 2017 I announced a new low cost loan fund for the livestock, including in particular dairy, as well as tillage sectors which will utilise Ireland's €11.1M allocation, in conjunction with national funds, to leverage a greater fund in the region of €150M to provide such a low cost loan model for Irish farmers.
The market returns to Irish dairy farmers are also starting to show improved returns over the last few months and the outlook for 2017 is more positive than last year. I am monitoring this market situation closely as I am aware that the recovery is still somewhat fragile and will remain in close contact with stakeholders as the year progresses.
703. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for the delay in making a GLAS payment to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10260/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person named was approved into GLAS 1 with a contract commencement date of 1 October 2015 and has received full entitlements in respect of the 2015 scheme year.
Department records show that following a Cross Compliance inspection under the Basic Payment Scheme a penalty was applied on the holding of the person named. Under the regulations the same level of penalty must now be applied to the GLAS payment. The administrative checks on the GLAS application also identified non compliances with the Wild Bird Cover action which resulted in a further penalty being incurred. Officials in my Department are finalising the 2016 payment calculations to take account of these Cross Compliance and GLAS administrative penalties with a view to issuing payment.
