The Minister for Agriculture continues to blame the European Commission’s failure to give State Aid approval to the Government’s forestry plans for what will be the lowest annual afforestation rate in decades, if not ever in this State’s history.
Clare Independent TD Michael McNamara has warned Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue that the treatment of farmers in the Burren Life Scheme and Hen Harrier Project is undermining confidence in the Nature Restoration Law proposals.
Read MoreTreatment of farmers in the Burren Life Scheme and Hen Harrier Project belie Nature Restoration Law proposals. Farmers are promised compensation, as were farmers in the Burren and Hen Harrier Areas, but that promise was abandoned by this government.
An amendment to the Agri-Food Regulator Bill to enable to regulator to go the High Court for an Order compelling the provision of data sought in the event that it wasn’t being provided was not accepted by the Minister for Agriculture.
The power that the Agri-Food Regulator will have to bring transparency to the food chain was debated and disputed last night in the Dáil when my suggested amendments were discussed.
Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara says the Government’s Agricultural & Food Supply Chain Bill is not credible in the Irish context if it does not even refer to processors.
Read MoreAn Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill that doesn’t even mention processors isn’t credible. A regulator without the power to probe the commercial relationship between processors or the impact of processor owned/controlled feedlots on prices cannot succeed no matter how well intentioned.
Independent TD Michael McNamara has expressed concern the Government’s proposed Agri-Food Regulator could be a “toothless tiger.”
Read MoreClare Independent TD Michael McNamara has explained to the Government that some farmers in the Burren and Slieve Aughty regions of Clare are worse off now under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) than they were under the Burren Life and Hen Harrier projects.
The Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill, as it stands, will not make it any clearer to farmers and consumers who is profiting most from the production and sale of essential food items.
I raised the different rates of funding provided by the Department of Agriculture to male and female applicants aged 41-55 years under the TMAS scheme and questioned whether it amounts to unlawful discrimination.
I asked the Agriculture about the Department of Agriculture’s recent insistence that all agricultural cargo coming in to Dublin for Shannon Airport is cleared and inspected in Dublin instead of Shannon as heretofore.
Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara has criticised the Government for excluding up to 20% of farmland in County Clare from the €55m Fodder Support Scheme.
Read More
Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara has called on the Minister for Agriculture to allow temporary adjustments to the conditions of the GLAS scheme which would enable farmers with low-input permanent pasture and traditional hay meadows to cut more hay and silage.
Read MoreI asked the Agriculture Minister what he is doing to tackle rising input costs in agriculture, especially fertiliser, which will inevitably result in food inflation next spring.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has said he will be participating in a special meeting of EU agriculture ministers tomorrow (Wednesday) in relation to the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on agriculture and food prices.
Minister McConalogue was responding to Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara who has expressed concern at the impact of rising fertiliser costs on food production and prices in Ireland.
Deputy McNamara claims urgent government intervention is required and has suggested the potential bulk purchase of fertilisers, the subvention of fertilisers, or the introduction of price caps.
Speaking during Questions on Promised Legislation in Dáil Éireann today, Deputy McNamara said, “Irish farmers face a dilemma. Do they borrow money to pay the cost of fertiliser which has more than doubled and hope to pass that on to consumers at the end of the year? Or do they produce less food which will also result in a rise in consumer food prices at the end of the year?”
“I have no doubt that Ireland will produce more than enough food to feed itself, but I am less confident about Europe, particularly given the lack of supply that will be there from Ukraine which is the breadbasket of Europe,” he added. “To ward off a horrible scenario where Irish consumers cannot afford the cost of food in Ireland like other European consumers, will the Government intervene by bulk buying fertilisers, subventing it or putting price caps in place? Because we need to intervene now.”
In response, Minister McConalogue commented, “You raise a very fair issue and a fair concern, and something that my department are monitoring very closely. Also, we are having a special meeting of EU agriculture ministers this Wednesday and it’s something we will be discussing as part of that, as well in the context of the challenges that the unacceptable invasion of Ukraine is resulting in and what that means in terms of both gas, energy, fertiliser and potentially, grain prices.”
40% of the target of 4,500 forestry licences to issue in 2021 has been reached up to 9th July, according to figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Read MoreI made a statement in the Dáil today on the ongoing CAP negotiations.
Beef farmers are being screwed by processors who control the market, aided and abetted by Department of Agriculture practice and policy over the years.
Following the appointment and resignation yesterday of a Chair of Shannon Group plc, I asked the Agriculture Minister how it was deemed that the same candidate had the expertise required to be appointed to Bord Iascaigh Mhara (Irish Sea Fisheries Board) despite having no obvious background in fisheries.
I asked the Minister for Agriculture why the Beef Taskforce, a talking shop set up to end the beef protests in 2019, isn’t meeting.
In the Dáil today, I outlined why I am opposed to the CETA and Mercosur agreements – their impact on Irish agriculture, food standards, the environment and investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms.
I was happy to receive confirmation from the Minister for Agriculture that farmers would now receive monthly updates on their stocking density so as to be able to calculate their reductions required for BEAM (Beef Exceptional Aid Measure).
I urged the new Minister for Agriculture to reform the beef and forestry sectors so that farmers in those sectors and can plan for the future with more certainty.