I thank the Senator for bringing this matter to the notice of the House and for ensuring it would be addressed. I welcome the opportunity to come to the House to respond to her and to outline the circumstances as they stand. Sprat, as she will be aware, is a short-lived species that occurs in shore and is an important prey fish for many marine species. It is vital to the ocean food chain, as well as an important source of income for inshore fishermen. The four main fishing grounds for sprat in Ireland are Donegal b…

As I outlined in my initial reply, a key measure I am taking is to appeal the ruling to give the courts the opportunity to reflect on the appeal. I am closely monitoring the situation regarding fishing activity. I am working with the Department to ensure that further efforts are made on gathering data. We need to avail of all the resources and capabilities at our disposal to ensure we fully assess and get a better understanding of the sprat fishery and their life cycle. That will inform how we approach the matter a…

It is certainly good to see so many in the Chamber this late in the evening. I have no doubt that by the time we finish these questions, we will know a little more about what is in store across the Atlantic than we do now. Biocidal products, including hand sanitisers, may only be marketed and used in Ireland once they have been registered with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and entered on the biocidal product register in accordance with Regulation 20 of SI 427 of 2013. The hand sanitiser ViraPro…

As I outlined, it is a paper-based application process for a licence from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Once that is approved by the Department and the composition of any sanitiser is made clear in respect of the licences provided, the legal responsibility is then on the company to ensure it actually meets the requirements of the licence which was provided. There is therefore an ongoing legal obligation on the company to ensure that its product is fit for purpose and does what it was licensed …

I assure Deputy Carthy that I am certainly the one who is responsible and in charge here. I am very clearly of the view that I should have been informed on 16 October, or whenever the recall notice was issued to the company. Recalls are not unusual. They tend to be operational in nature so they would not always be escalated within the Department. This one should have been, given the nature of what was involved, and I have initiated a review of the handling of this incident. The initial recall to the company was on …

As the Deputy will be aware, on 19 October the Taoiseach announced that the whole country would move to level 5 of the framework for living with Covid-19 for a period of six weeks, starting at midnight on Wednesday, 21 October. This decision was made on foot of strong evidence presented to the Government of a potentially grave situation arising in the weeks ahead. For marts this meant a return to similar conditions under which they operated in the first phase of the pandemic. The Taoiseach has called on us all to w…

I have been monitoring the situation very closely and talking to farmers and mart operators up and down the country. As I have outlined, there was a difficulty with one online platform provider last Saturday week which led to four marts out of 30 not being able to complete their sales. However, overall there has been a lot of success with the sales operating online. Very important from my point of view is the fact that prices have been holding up and have indeed improved across many livestock categories. That is th…

I thank the Deputy. I have had many discussions with many farmers who would prefer to be operating level 3 restrictions and I have no doubt the Deputy's message is the same as mine, which is there is a personal responsibility on everyone to act responsibly for their own health, and for the health of their neighbours and friends, by following social distancing and the public health guidelines in all situations, including outside marts. The personal responsibility is on everyone in this regard. The bottom line is tha…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which she has raised previously. It is an important issue for many licensed merchants throughout the country. I know it is a cause of concern. I will outline the situation. Regulation (EU) 2019/6 on veterinary medicinal products is due to come into effect in January 2022. This regulation is binding in full and has direct effect on all member states. Two issues have arisen, which are the new requirement under EU law for a veterinary prescription to be issued before antipar…

I thank the Deputy. The scientific testing on the antiparasitics will be done at national level and will be verifiable and done in accordance with prescribed specifications. I have met many licensed merchants for whom this is a significant part of their business. Many of them have trained and responsible persons on their premises who oversee the sale of these products. I know how important it is for them to be able to continue to maintain the business line they have. I also know the importance farmers attach to bei…

I will be guided by the work of the stakeholder forum in examining what options are available to try to ensure the business of licensed merchants is not affected while at the same time ensuring we are compliant with the EU regulations to which we are legally bound to adhere. My understanding is that at present Ireland, apart from the UK, is the only EU country that does not have veterinary prescriptions for antiparasitics. The particular regulation will apply from January 2022. It is about working with licensed mer…

I thank the Deputy and I know this is something that received much attention during the beef protests last year and has also received much attention since then with regard to the beef task force. The Deputy knows there is not a rule as such limiting the age of cattle or the number of movements for beef production, but meat processors do make in-spec bonus payments in respect of cattle that meet certain market specifications which can be required by retail customers. The 30-month age and four-movement specifications…

I am very much aware of the income pressure many farmers are under. That is why in the recent budget I secured an 11% increase in funding above last year's amount to ensure that some key schemes will continue next year during the transition period running into the next CAP programme. That is something which is massively important for our farming community. Also, in the context of trying to ensure transparency in the beef sector, the Deputy will know that I have brought forward into the programme for Government a po…

I am glad to hear that the Deputy will work with me on the policies I will be seeking to implement in respect of this matter because I have not seen any policies from Sinn Féin that would address it at all. I expect to see the report Grant Thornton is preparing on the relationship and the requirements of retailers and how that interfaces with processors and primary producers very soon. It will be really important to informing the work of the beef task force. Very importantly, I see a very strong role for that task …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 36 together. I wish Deputy Cairns a happy birthday. I hope she finds a way to celebrate it in later years other than the way we are celebrating it tonight. I hope the day ahead finishes better than the way it is starting, that is, here in the Chamber. I thank the staff for being here with us. I take the Deputy's point on the late hour at which we are here. As Deputy Cairns knows, the Department has adapted the conditions under which marts have had to operate since April to re…

On Sixmilebridge mart, which Deputy Crowe raised with me before, I believe it did manage to finish its sale last Saturday. With regard to marts' sales in general online, the clearance rates have been very high and very much in line with traditional mart clearance rates. They are certainly very similar. On Deputy Cairns's point, I am certainly monitoring the position very closely. I have been talking to farmers, from north Donegal right down to south Kerry, about their experiences and I have also been liaising with …

I thank Deputies Cairns and Crowe for raising this issue. We should acknowledge that being able to bid online in the safety of their home and not having to go out has been welcome for some farmers. There is no doubt there have been challenges for those who do not have Internet access. Compared with the situation in March and April where online transactions were not available and we had a bidding and tendering process for stock, the situation now is much more preferable. That tendering option is still available for …

I thank the Deputy for his question. I take this opportunity to emphasise my commitment to the provision of agri-environment schemes which will continue to support the farming sector in these uncertain times, along with continuing the environmental benefits that such schemes have delivered. This commitment was demonstrated by a number of key provisions in my Department’s budget Estimate for 2021, including the provision of €79 million in new funding for a range of new agri-environment initiatives. This funding incl…

As the Deputy will know, 35,000 farmers were due to leave GLAS at the end of this year. Importantly, the recent budget provides funding to ensure that GLAS can roll over for those farmers to enable them to continue in it next year. Obviously, a number of farmers are outside GLAS and are not in any scheme. The intention is to put in place a pilot scheme for a number of those farmers, which will be an indicator in terms of what the future scheme will look like and which will help inform what the successor scheme to G…

That €1.5 billion commitment is over the ten years until 2030. I note the Deputy's support for the €79 million which we brought forward in the budget as new funding for environmental schemes. I also note that Sinn Féin did not have any such funding commitment in its pre-budget submission so I am sure the Deputy is particularly glad to see we have delivered €79 million in additional funding. I know that farmers who were availing of the agri-environment options scheme, AEOS, and finished out their scheme were, theref…