Niamh Smyth
Ceist:340. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health if he will review a case (details supplied); if same will be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61091/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraDeath Certificates
Ceisteanna (340)
Freagraí scríofa
The Department of Health has been in contact with the RCSI Hospital Group which covers Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. The Hospital Group advises that it may be several weeks before the post mortem report is available - if toxicology tests are required this will lengthen the process. A death cannot be registered until a post mortem report is received. I am advised that queries relating to post mortem results should be made to the relevant Coroner’s Office, rather than to the hospital involved.
Vaccination Programme
Ceisteanna (341)
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:341. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the way a person (details supplied) can get a booster vaccine administered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61102/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Covid-19 Tests
Ceisteanna (342)
Gary Gannon
Ceist:342. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Health the status of the trials of antigen tests in the early childhood sector. [61110/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Agriculture Industry
Ceisteanna (343)
Denis Naughten
Ceist:343. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the tonnage of quality assured beef produced in Ireland in 2020; the corresponding figure for non-quality assured beef; the breakdown of tonnage that attracts each quality assured bonus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60435/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
My Department publish data annually on the numbers of cattle slaughtered at both Department approved Slaughter Plants and at Local Authority approved abattoirs. In 2020, 1.88 million cattle were slaughtered. According to CSO meat supply balance data, this equates to around 633,000 tonnes (carcass weight equivalent).
My Department does not categorise cattle slaughtering by quality assured or non-quality assured, or track whether a bonus is paid in this commercial transaction between the farmer and the slaughter plant. However, Bord Bia has confirmed that the vast majority of all beef processed in Ireland comes from Quality Assured farms.
It should be noted that while the Department has policy responsibility for Bord Bia, queries in relation to operational issues, such as the matter referenced, should be directed to Bord Bia for response.
Departmental Programmes
Ceisteanna (344)
Marc Ó Cathasaigh
Ceist:344. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his Department's progress on the expansion of support for social farming programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60218/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I am a strong supporter of the Social Farming model and will continue to offer support to the initiative as it does a tremendous job in driving inclusion.
My Department provides funding under the Rural Innovation & Development Fund (RIDF) for the development of the national Social Farming Network known as "Social Farming Ireland". In addition, funding is also provided for the development of a number of social farming model projects across Ireland.
The organisations currently under contract to provide the services and their associated funding for 2021 are as follows:
National Social Farming Network:
- Leitrim Integrated Development Company CLG - Social Farming Network - €400,000.
Social Farming Model Contracts:
- Leitrim Integrated Development Company CLG – €100,000
- Down Syndrome Irl (Cork Branch) – €92,485
- South Kerry Development Partnership – €100,000
- IRD Duhallow – €84,250
A similar level of funding will be provided by my Department in 2022 for the extension of all of the above contracts. It is also my understanding that there are additional streams of funding available from other agencies for social farming placements.
Departmental Expenditure
Ceisteanna (345)
Catherine Murphy
Ceist:345. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount expended by his Department in each of the past five years to date in 2021 on electricity costs in tabular form; and if he will provide an additional schedule that sets out all energy costs associated with their ICT hardware, that is, servers and so on in tabular form. [60931/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The amount expended by my Department in each of the past five years to date in 2021 on electricity in tabular form is as follows:
|
Year |
Expenditure |
|
2017 |
€2,274,455.00 |
|
2018 |
€2,010,614.33 |
|
2019 |
€1,808,273.55 |
|
2020 |
€2,027,254.58 |
|
2021 (to 06.12.2021) |
€2,299,641.23 |
* Costs for energy for ICT are not recorded separately and are included in the figures provided.
* Electricity reimbursed or recouped from other Government Departments sharing facilities has been accounted for.
Fishing Industry
Ceisteanna (346)
Michael Healy-Rae
Ceist:346. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for the increase in the price of fishing licences and the delay in doing so meaning that licences are not issuing at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60982/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Deputy will be pleased to be advised that there is no fee imposed for the processing of sea-fishing boat licences administered by the Licensing Authority. The Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003 transferred the functions of sea-fishing boat licensing to the Licensing Authority for Sea-fishing Boats, which operates on an independent basis subject to criteria set out in that Act and Ministerial Policy Directives. The Licensing Authority is the Registrar General of Fishing Boats, an official of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine or, under the superintendence of the Registrar General, the Deputy Registrar General of Fishing Boats.
Covid-19 Pandemic
Ceisteanna (347)
Michael McNamara
Ceist:347. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount his Department spent on Covid-19-related advertising in the period from 1 January 2020 to 30 November 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60991/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
My Department continues to contribute to and support whole-of-Government communications related to COVID-19.
My Department has provided information, as appropriate, via established channels of communication, including the Department’s website, official social media accounts and stakeholder communications.
No advertising expenditure related to COVID-19 has been incurred by my Department during the period from 1st January 2020 to 30th November 2021.
Forestry Sector
Ceisteanna (348, 349, 350, 351, 352)
Joe Carey
Ceist:348. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 247 of 2 December 2021, if a harvest plan was submitted with the application; the location of the file since it was lodged in March 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61004/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraJoe Carey
Ceist:349. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 247 of 2 December 2021, if he will provide details of the ecologist that is handling the file; if it is an internal or an external ecology contractor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61005/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraJoe Carey
Ceist:350. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 247 of 2 December 2021, when did the file go to the ecology unit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61006/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraJoe Carey
Ceist:351. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 247 of 2 December 2021, when the file will be addressed by the ecology unit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61007/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraJoe Carey
Ceist:352. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 247 of 2 December 2021, the reason the applicant has to wait for a year to receive a response to a routine application in view of the fact that there are 40 new ecologists working on forestry related matters in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61008/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 348 to 352, inclusive, together.
As I advised the Deputy in Parliamentary Question number 247 of 2nd December, my Department received an application for a tree felling licence for the person named in April this year. The Harvest Plan and map was received in May. As advised the application is with the Ecology Unit .
There are now 27 ecologists deployed to my Department. I previously noted that a decision should issue within approximately two to three months, a timeframe that includes a mandatory 30-day public consultation period.
Question No. 349 answered with Question No. 348.
Question No. 350 answered with Question No. 348.
Question No. 351 answered with Question No. 348.
Question No. 352 answered with Question No. 348.
Forestry Sector
Ceisteanna (353)
Brendan Smith
Ceist:353. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress to date in eliminating unacceptable delays in processing applications for forest planting and felling; the additional measures that will be introduced in 2022 to speed up the processing of such applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61013/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Tackling the backlog in forestry licenses remains a key priority for me, Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsibility for the sector, and the rest of the Department. While the situation we find ourselves in is far from ideal, I am pleased to report significant progress has been made in the past year, particularly on felling and road licences.
The investment in resources and continual improvement has had a positive impact with a significant increase in licence output in recent months. This has brought our output to 3,718 licences issued to date this year. I am confident that we will meet our target of 4,000 licences by year end which will be a 60% increase on last year.
Our road licensing output for this year will be double the target set for us in the Climate Action Plan. The volume of timber licensed will be 8 million m3 this year. This is 60% higher than last year and the highest volume ever licensed in a single year.
We are making progress under Project Woodland, with the second interim report published at the end of October.
In terms of licensing, an important initiative is the in-depth review of the forestry licensing system being carried out by a consultant with legal and environmental expertise. It will review the existing statutory framework for the licensing of forestry activities in relation to environmental and public participation obligations in order that practical advice can be provided to the Department on how to work more efficiently within the existing legal framework. That report is expected at end February next.
In terms of afforestation, outputs are not where I’d like them to be but there are signs of improvement. Officials are prioritising the assessment of afforestation licences on hand, using the same system as was applied to felling licences and 10 ecologists are now dedicated to afforestation, with more to be recruited.
We will build on this years momentum in 2022 and will implement any and all practical process improvements which result from the review and analysis in train under Project Woodland. I remain fully committed to delivering a licensing system which will meets the needs of the sector and of society as a whole.
Agriculture Schemes
Ceisteanna (354, 355)
Jackie Cahill
Ceist:354. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 747 of 30 November 2021, the number of participants that have actually planted forestry; the area of forestry planted by such participants; the number of applications for afforestation by such participants which were received by his Department after the participant had joined GLAS; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61015/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraJackie Cahill
Ceist:355. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 747 of 30 November 2021, if 1,000 participants is circa 2% of the total participants in GLAS; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61016/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 354 and 355 together.
Following on from Parliamentary Question 747 of 30th November, further analysis shows that 682 GLAS participants planted 3,702 hectares of forestry in the years 2016 to 2020 - this figure is based on the number who claimed a first grant and premium in those years. This represents 20% of all those who planted forestry in the period in question and is 17% of the total hectarage planted.
Other GLAS participants may have already had forestry planted on their lands, however this information is not readily to hand, given the long term nature of forestry. There are currently 48,000 participants in the GLAS scheme.