I thank Deputy Mattie McGrath for bringing this Bill forward. The use of sulkies or any other horse-drawn vehicles, including on public roads, is a legitimate activity provided it is done in a safe manner and having due care and consideration for other road users and the well-being of the animals involved and, in particular, in compliance with any relevant legislation including local government, road safety, public order and animal welfare legislation as well as any local by-laws, which the Deputy mentioned. The us…

I thank Deputy Carthy for the question. Whatever the outcome of the EU-UK future relationship negotiations, significant changes will take place from 1 January 2021. These will have considerable implications for the agri-food and fisheries sector and will require considerable adjustment, particularly for businesses trading with Great Britain. The focus of my Department has been on getting all sectors as ready as possible for all Brexit scenarios, with a key focus on protecting primary producers. For example, the wor…

We have been working closely with all agri-food companies, and exporters in particular, to ensure they prepare for 1 January because, regardless of what happens in the next number of days, there will be significant changes from that date when Britain becomes a third country. For every company that exports to Britain, that will mean additional customs checks and, for the agri-food sector more than any other sector, there will be sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, checks as well, which will add additional administratio…

On supporting companies to prepare for the additional requirements in terms of customs and SPS, significant financial support has been put in place by the Government. In particular, there is a €9,000 grant for all businesses to avail of to ensure they have a member of staff in their company who will have knowledge, understanding and responsibility to prepare for customs checking. The issue of export insurance is something on which my Department has engaged with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. We…

I thank the Deputy for his question on the assessment of the potential impact on the agrifood sector of the EU-Mercosur deal. As was stated at the time of last year's EU-Mercosur political agreement, Ireland was disappointed with the inclusion of a 99,000-tonne tariff-rate quota for beef from Mercosur countries. If ratified, this quota would be phased in under the agreement in six equal tranches over five years. Of the quota, 55% is for fresh high-quality beef, with the remainder being frozen. The former Taoiseach …

The concern about the Mercosur agreement relates to its beef aspect and the 99,000 tonnes of tariff-rate quota. Wider trade agreements have a benefit for Ireland, including our agrifood industry. We export 90% of all of our agricultural produce. As such, being able to trade internationally is important. The part of the Mercosur agreement that I am concerned about is the tariff-rate quota of 99,000 tonnes, particularly in terms of how it is produced in Mercosur countries. There must be an equivalence of standards wi…

The Deputy will find that I am consistent in outlining my concerns about the 99,000-tonne beef aspect. I have also pointed out to him the wider value of trade to Irish agrifood. The approach from his party is anti-trade in general. It is opposed to many of our free trade agreements, for example, the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, which has been positive for the agrifood-----

No, we were not.

Certainly not.

We have always been consistent on the positive aspects of trade while also being clear on any issue of concern. I have been clear about my concerns regarding the beef aspect of the Mercosur deal. It is appropriate we deal in logic and apply appropriate process to how we consider everything as a Government. That is why there is an impact assessment, which the Deputy is asking me about today. Yet, however, he is prejudging and looking to jump ahead of that. I believe the appropriate thing is to wait for that to be co…

I thank Deputy Cairns for her question. I am disappointed at the outset to see the negative approach the Deputy is taking to the development of a PGI application for grass-fed Irish beef. I do not believe it reflects the positive dimensions of that initiative and what it can mean in terms of being able to try to promote our beef more abroad and, ultimately, try to add value to it. The beef task force, which the Deputy referenced, was established to provide the leadership to develop a sustainable pathway for the fut…

Coming out of the agreement signed at the beef task force of September last year were 37 separate actions. Of these, 20 have now been completed, six are in progress and one still is to be commenced, while ten are ongoing actions that are continuing. I will go back to the initial point I made that the task force is primarily composed of farmer representative organisations and they have got fully behind, for example, the PGI grass-fed application, which I recently submitted to Europe. It was agreed with consensus and…

I can assure Deputy Cairns I am absolutely committed to doing everything I can as Minister to support our farmers and support a fair income for them. That is why I worked strongly with the beef task force and the farming organisations to move the PGI forward. That is obviously something we must get approval for at European level and then ensure, in time, that we work to have it benefit farmers. It is also why for the first time, through that beef task force, I have also secured and allocated €6 million, specificall…

I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn for his question. As he will be aware, under the Common Fisheries Policy, EU fishing fleets are given equal access to EU waters and fishing grounds subject to allocated fish quotas. Irrespective of size, fishing vessels must comply with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy, which includes rules regarding access and catch limits or quota. With regard to access to Ireland's coastal waters by foreign vessels, I will point out that on the north-west coast, all foreign fishing vessels ar…

As a Deputy from a coastal county, no more so than Deputy Mac Lochlainn, protecting and trying to ensure the welfare and incomes of our fishermen is very important to me. That has never been more the case than at the moment in the context of the Brexit negotiations and the very solid and forthright campaign we have mounted working with our European maritime nation partners to try to ensure a good outcome from Brexit in terms of access to British waters and of maintaining our quota share. The specific issue the Depu…

The sustainability of our fisheries is really important, so we must ensure that fishing is done at a sustainable level. While it provides good income for our fishermen today, we must ensure that the stocks will be there for the years ahead. The way that is done at European level is through a quota system, although it is highly contested at all times. There is a quota system that puts a limit on what can be fished from the sea by any vessel, irrespective of its size. Whether small or large, a vessel is restricted by…

The HSA comes under the remit of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and any specific questions about its reports are a matter for that Department. Statutory responsibility for health and safety in the workplace rests with the HSA. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, primary responsibility for public health policy and implementation rests with the Department of Health and the HSE. My Department's statutory responsibility is to ensure that food business operators within these premises operate in …

I thank the Deputy. As I pointed out, I do not have the details here that the HSA would have because the authority comes under another Department's remit. I outlined the assessments and the checks that my Department has carried out on the authority's behalf to supplement that work. At all times we have been clear about the absolute importance of safety across all working environments, particularly those in the meat industry. Activity in this industry was designated as essential during Covid. It has continued throug…

I thank the Deputies for their questions. The health, welfare and safety of workers must be absolutely central to everything we do, particularly in environments where essential work is continuing. That is the clear message we are putting out to all sectors, particularly the meat processing sector. My Department has worked to assist the HSA in this regard, including in the carrying out of more than 500 inspections, alongside the ongoing work we do in this area. On Deputy Carthy's point regarding turkey farm operatio…

I thank the Deputy for his question, which has been raised with me on many occasions by fishermen. Bluefin tuna is a highly migratory large pelagic species which spawns in the Mediterranean and then migrates over a wide area of the north-east Atlantic to feed.  This migration brings some of the fish into the Irish 200-mile zone for part of the year, as we discussed previously. At the time we see the fish in the Irish zone, there are also fish being caught in the international high seas and over a wide area from Spa…