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Tuesday, 13 Oct 2020

Written Answers Nos. 588-605

Forestry Sector

Ceisteanna (590)

Michael McNamara

Ceist:

590. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way in which the conditions set out in the replanting order (details supplied) adhere to circumscribed powers set out in the Forestry Act 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29653/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

This matter is currently before the Courts and it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.

GLAS Issues

Ceisteanna (591)

Michael Healy-Rae

Ceist:

591. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a GLAS 3 appeal by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29667/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The person named was approved into GLAS 3 with a contact commencement date of 1 January 2017.

The application was rejected as a result of the findings of an on-farm inspection and the applicant has requested a review of this decision.

The review in this case is nearing completion and the applicant will be informed in writing of the outcome shortly.

Forestry Sector

Ceisteanna (592)

Seán Sherlock

Ceist:

592. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the date on which a chairperson will be appointed to oversee the implementation of a report (details supplied). [29907/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Mackinnon Report carried out by Jim Mackinnon, former Chief Planner with the Scottish Government reviewed the forestry approval process and related issues in Ireland. This was similar to an exercise which Mr. Mackinnon had previously conducted for the Scottish authorities. It was published at the end of last year and presented to the Forestry Programme Implementation Group in January. Its implementation is one of the commitments which this Government made for forestry in the Programme for Government.

The report was informed by, among other things, discussions with a range of stakeholders including the forestry sector, farming organisations, the environmental pillar, State Bodies, Teagasc and the Forestry Appeals Committee. In addition, written submissions were received at the time.

The report includes 22 Ways Forward or recommendations across a range of issues. I am pleased to say that many of these recommendations have already been taken on board by the Department and acted upon. We have, for instance, in line with Mackinnon, introduced an amendment to the Agriculture Appeals Act and have issued guidance on Natura Impact Statements. We have also introduced a single consent system for forestry road planning

I recognise, of course, that it is very important that the report is fully implemented and that is why I am currently examining the appointment of an independent chair to oversee the process. The intention is that this person will report on the feasibility of implementing the Mackinnon recommendations for us to consider further. newly commissioned Forestry Programme Implementation Group, to monitor progress and to help deliver on its ambition. A review of the Forestry Programme Implementation Group is currently underway to enhance representation so that the membership on the Group is best selected to help advise on the implementation of the National Programme.

There is a huge amount of activity in forestry at the moment especially on the reform of the planning and appeals processes and the commencement of the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020. Nonetheless, I am well aware that implementation of MacKinnon is also a priority and I expect to be making further announcements on this issue in the near future.

Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme

Ceisteanna (593)

Brendan Griffin

Ceist:

593. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if TAMS will be expanded to include cattle underpasses in view of the risk to farmers crossing busy roads with cattle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29954/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

There are a wide variety of items available under the suite of seven measures under TAMS II. However, funding for cattle underpasses are not included. The financial allocation in respect of TAMS for the full Rural Development Programme period is €395m. To date, total expenditure, including transitional expenditure, has reached €244m with commitments of an additional €130m made to scheme participants who have yet to draw down those commitments.

All outstanding approvals issued represent potential outstanding liabilities for my Department and we must have a budget in place to pay these claims. As a result, it is not possible at this time to consider adding additional items such as cattle underpasses to the comprehensive list of investment items already available under TAMS II.

Agriculture Schemes

Ceisteanna (594)

Brendan Griffin

Ceist:

594. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the date on which an ANC and basic payment will issue to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30064/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The person named submitted an application for the 2020 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Greening, and the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) Scheme on the 5th of March 2020.

The application was selected for a ground eligibility inspection. This inspection has been completed and the outcome is currently being finalised. In line with changes secured to EU regulations this year, my Department has arranged to process advance payments in cases selected for inspection where the inspection is not yet completed and where no other errors are present on the case.

With regards to the ANC scheme, to qualify for payments under the scheme applicants must meet minimum stocking requirements as set out in the terms and conditions of the scheme. To date, the person named has not yet satisfied the annual average stocking requirement and has thus not yet qualified for payment under the scheme.

Advance payments under the 2020 BPS and Greening Scheme are scheduled to commence from 16 October, the earliest date possible in accordance with EU regulation.

GLAS Issues

Ceisteanna (595)

Brendan Griffin

Ceist:

595. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a decision has been made on a GLAS penalty appeal by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30132/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The person named was approved into GLAS 1 with a contract commencement date of 1 October 2015 and has received payment for scheme years 2015 - 2019.

The participant was selected for an on farm inspection and has requested a review of the inspection findings.

This case is currently being examined. The person named will be informed in writing of the outcome once the review has been completed.

Harbours and Piers

Ceisteanna (596)

Pádraig MacLochlainn

Ceist:

596. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the capital funding allocated and spent and the projects that have been delivered at the harbours under the remit of his Department in each of the years 2000 to 2019 and to date in 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30196/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

My Department owns, operates and maintains six designated State-owned Fishery Harbour Centres, located at Castletownbere, Dingle, Dunmore East, Howth, Killybegs and Ros An Mhíl under statute. In addition, my Department also has responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of North Harbour at Cape Clear, as well as the maintenance of a small number of specific piers, lights and beacons throughout Ireland, in accordance with the Marine Works (Ireland) Act 1902, and piers, lights and beacons constructed under the auspices of the Congested Districts Board.

Funding is made available on an annual basis by my Department to the Fishery Harbour Centres, via the Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme. Since 2007, when my Department took over responsibility for the Fishery Harbour Centres, over €168 million has been invested in this Department-owned infrastructure.

Table 1 (contained in the link below) outlines the total expenditure by my Department in relation to this Department-owned infrastructure in the years 2007 to 2020. The figures for 2020 are the allocated funding figures, not actual expenditure figures.

Table 1. 2007 - 2020 FHC, Cape Clear, PLB

My officials are currently reviewing records for the period 2000-2006, which pre-dates the transfer of the fisheries function to my Department, and I will revert to you in due course with details of funding allocated during this period.

Harbours and Piers

Ceisteanna (597)

Pádraig MacLochlainn

Ceist:

597. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the capital plans for harbours under the remit of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30197/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

My Department owns, operates and maintains six designated State-owned Fishery Harbour Centres, located at Castletownbere, Dingle, Dunmore East, Howth, Killybegs and Ros An Mhíl under statute. In addition, my Department also has responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of North Harbour at Cape Clear, as well as the maintenance of a small number of specific piers, lights and beacons throughout Ireland, in accordance with the Marine Works (Ireland) Act 1902, and piers, lights and beacons constructed under the auspices of the Congested Districts Board.

Funding is made available on an annual basis by my Department to the Fishery Harbour Centres, via the Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme. Since 2010, €133 million has been invested in this Department-owned infrastructure.

No final decisions have been made on the suite of projects to be undertaken under the 2021 Capital Programme at this stage. Any future development projects in the six Fishery Harbour Centres will only be considered on the basis of available exchequer funding and competing national priorities.

Harbours and Piers

Ceisteanna (598)

Joe McHugh

Ceist:

598. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to reinstate the Border inspection post status at Killybegs seaport in view of the availability of a high capacity cold store (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30202/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

My Department has been actively participating in the whole-of-Government approach to Brexit preparedness and contingency planning. This includes the designation and approval of border inspection posts at ports and airports. The focus to date has been on infrastructure developments and upgrades at border inspection posts in Dublin Port, Rosslare and Dublin airport, due to the volume of trade flows with the UK.

Under existing anti-IUU fishing regulations and North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) requirements, direct landings of fresh fishery products by third country vessels can be authorised to land into Killybegs (or Castletownbere). Ireland does not have a Border Inspect Post to facilitate the landing of frozen fish by third country vessels. Landings of frozen fish, which would require a Border Inspection Post, are small in volume and given the costs associated with such designation, it would not be justified for Killybegs.

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund

Ceisteanna (599)

Pádraig MacLochlainn

Ceist:

599. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the percentage of EMFF allocation in each of the years 2014 to 2019 and to date in 2020, that was spent on control and enforcement (details supplied) here; and the corresponding percentage spends on same in other EU states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30240/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

My Department's European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Programme 2014-20 is the principal source of development funding for our seafood sector. The Programme is distributing €239.4 million to promote the sustainable development of our fisheries, aquaculture and seafood processing sectors and the socio-economic development of our coastal communities. The Programme also funds Ireland's contribution to the EU Data Collection Framework and funds investment to enhance the capacity of the control authorities to enforce the Common Fisheries Policy.

As part of the Programme, the European union is contributing a ring-fenced envelope of €37.2 million towards control and enforcement and with co-funding from the Government of Ireland the total Programme allocation for control and enforcement is €44.2 million, or 18.5% of the overall Programme budget. Ireland does not have discretion around this allocation. These funds are being distributed to the control partners to support a variety of projects being implemented by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, the Department of Defence and my Department. The spend for each year and related percentages are presented in the table below. Data for 2014 and 2015 is reported together as they were the subject of a single annual report to the EU. As spend by the Department of Defence is funded through that Department's vote, data on that Department's spend is provisional and subject to update. Data on spend in 2020 is not available, but a forecast outturn is presented.

-

Spend

% of allocation for Control & Enforcement

% of Programme

2014/15

1,310,739

3%

1%

2016

2,928,687

7%

1%

2017

4,191,203

9%

2%

2018

5,540,864

13%

2%

2019

20,551,645

46%

9%

2020 forecast

8,00,000

18%

3%

TOTAL

42,523,138

96%

18%

Harbours and Piers

Ceisteanna (600)

Pádraig MacLochlainn

Ceist:

600. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount allocated to each local authority for each of the years 2000 to 2019 and to date in 2020, for investment in piers and harbours in tabular form; and the details of the allocations. [30302/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

My Department owns, operates and maintains six designated State-owned Fishery Harbour Centres, located at Castletownbere, Dingle, Dunmore East, Howth, Killybegs and Ros An Mhíl under statute. In addition, my Department also has responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of North Harbour at Cape Clear, as well as the maintenance of a small number of specific piers, lights and beacons throughout Ireland, in accordance with the Marine Works (Ireland) Act 1902, and piers, lights and beacons constructed under the auspices of the Congested Districts Board.

Responsibility for the maintenance and development of Local Authority-owned harbours and piers rests with each individual Local Authority in the first instance and its parent Department, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage thereafter.

My Department does however provide limited funding to assist coastal Local Authorities in carrying out small scale projects for the development and repair of Local Authority owned piers, harbours and slipways under the annual Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme, subject to available Exchequer funding and overall national priorities.

Each year, Local Authorities are invited to submit prioritised lists of projects for consideration to be included in the annual capital programme. All applications for funding made by Local Authorities in respect of qualifying projects are then assessed, taking into account compliance with the criteria of the scheme, the priority attached to each project by the relevant Local Authority, the funding available, and the need to ensure a broad geographical spread of projects. Since 2010, my Department has provided funding of over €31 million to 15 coastal local authorities for development and maintenance works.

Table 1 (contained in the below link) outlines the total funding granted by my Department to each Local Authority in the years 2010 to 2020. The figures also include Storm Damage funding in 2014 and 2015, which was additional funding to assist Local Authorities in repairing piers and harbours and eligible marine infrastructure owned by them, which were damaged by severe winter storms.

Table1. LA Expenditure Totals 2010 to 2020

Table 2 (contained in the below link) gives a detailed project breakdown of this funding by Local Authority. The figures for 2020 are the allocated funding figures, not actual expenditure. My officials are currently reviewing records for the period 2000-2010, which pre-dates the current format of the Local Authority scheme, and my Department will revert to you in due course with details of funding allocated to Local Authorities during this period.

Table 2. LA detailed breakdown 2010 - 2020

Fishing Industry

Ceisteanna (601)

Pádraig MacLochlainn

Ceist:

601. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to revisit the allocation of fishing licences and sustainability measures within the six-mile limit (details supplied). [30303/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

In December 2018, following a public consultation process in which over 900 submissions were received, the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine announced that vessels over 18m will be excluded from trawling in inshore waters inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines from 1 January 2020. A transition period of three years for vessels over 18m targeting sprat was allowed to enable adjustment for these vessels, as the sprat fishery is concentrated inside the six nautical mile zone.

A Judicial Review was taken by two applicant fishermen challenging the validity of the Policy. An unapproved judgement was issued on 31 July 2020 and the key points to come out of that Judgement is that while the applicants did not succeed on four of the five grounds of challenge, the challenge was made against the entire Policy Directive and was successful.

The findings on the grounds of challenge were:

1. The Policy Directive 1 of 2019, which gave legal effect to the policy, was not ultra vires,

2. The Directive did not impinge the applicants constitutional rights.

3. Given the impact on the applicants there was a particular duty on the Minister to provide a fuller explanation and engage in further talks with the applicants. On this ground the applicants succeeded.

4. The policy directive was not disproportionate to what was to be achieved.

5. The Policy directive did not breach EU law.

On 6 October 2020, the Judge held in summary that the Court’s final order should be, inter alia, a declaration that Policy Directive 1 of 2019 was made in breach of fair procedures and is void and/or of no legal effect.

I am currently considering, on an urgent basis, the implications of the judgment in consultation with my Department officials and legal advisors.

Farm Safety

Ceisteanna (602)

Patricia Ryan

Ceist:

602. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farm safety inspectors employed; the number of farm safety inspections in the past three months compared to the same period in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30331/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Farm Safety Inspectors are not a grade employed by my Department. Farm safety inspections are carried out by our colleagues in the Health and Safety Authority.

Coillte Teoranta

Ceisteanna (603)

Holly Cairns

Ceist:

603. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the funding provided for the forestry activities of Coillte under the Forestry Programme 2015 to 2020, including the amount per annum in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30346/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Coillte CGA was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act, 1988 and day-to-day operational matters, such as the management of their forest estate, are the responsibility of the company.

Coillte was deemed ineligible for forestry premiums in October 2003 and is not eligible for payments under the Afforestation scheme of the Forestry Programme 2014-2020, which are available to the private forest sector. However, the Company may apply for other grant schemes under the programme which aim to support the provision of public goods and services.

The following table shows payments which have issued to Coillte since 2015 under the forestry programme:

Scheme

Year

Amount of funding

Seed Stand and Seed Orchard Scheme

2018

€1,875

Neighbourwood Scheme

2020

€60,000

Native Woodland Conservation Scheme

2020

€10,866.75

Forestry Grants

Ceisteanna (604)

Holly Cairns

Ceist:

604. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount owed to his Department for the repayment of forestry grants and premiums, including details of the length of time the sums have been due, the amount of that sum that is redeemable and the amount that will be written off in tabular form. [30347/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The following table sets out the requested data in respect of forestry-related debts on 30 September 2020.

Outstanding amount aged 0 to 12 months

€93,662

Outstanding amount aged 12 to 36 months

€88,373

Outstanding amount aged 36 to 48 months

€50,008

Outstanding amount considered to be redeemable

€232,043

Outstanding amount due to be written off

Nil*

* Debt write-off is only considered when all debt recovery options have been unsuccessful. There are no forestry-related debts currently being considered for write-off.

Forestry Sector

Ceisteanna (605)

Holly Cairns

Ceist:

605. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the cost benefit ratio for the forestry programme 2015 to 2020 was calculated in 2014 as 1:1.18; and if so, the reason for this decision. [30348/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The analysis that concluded a cost benefit ratio of 1:1.18 was carried out in the context of the Department's 2014 publication 'Forests, products and people, Ireland’s forest policy – a renewed vision'. A cost benefit analysis was not undertaken specifically for the proposals as set out in the Forestry Programme in 2014 although 'Forest, products and people' was a significant source of information and direction with regard to the design of the Forestry Programme.

The 'Forest, products and people' cost benefit analysis covered afforestation and roads. On the costs side, the analysis looked at the cost of grants and premiums as well as the cost of forest management. On the benefit side, there was analysis of timber revenue, carbon sequestration as well as the benefits of recreation and environmental benefits such as water quality and biodiversity. A planting programme for three different scenarios were included in the exercise, 7,500 hectares per annum, 10,000 hectares per annum and finally 15,000 hectares per annum.

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