I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The Department and I continue to work on the commitment set out in the programme for Government on the banning of pair trawling inside the 6-mile limit as a matter of priority. In December 2018, following a public consultation process, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine announced that vessels over 18 metres would be excluded from trawling in inshore waters inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines from 1 January 2020. I am committed to the sustain…

I accept the passion the Deputy has for this topic. In answer to the specific question she put down, I am happy to state very clearly that it is still our intention to implement the programme for Government commitment in this regard. Obviously, I am not going to comment on the legal case before the courts or the length of time that matter is taking. I can give the Deputy the reassurance, however, that it is our intention to go ahead and implement that programme for Government decision pending the result of the cour…

The Deputy will understand that it is not possible for me to pre-empt the court decision. However, I will state very clearly that I take on board the concerns raised by the Deputy. Prior to the issuing of the court's ruling, however, we are not in a position to apply the original policy of December 2018 because it is before the courts. We look forward to the decision. The Deputy expressed concern as to how the case has developed. We have a Court of Appeal for good reason; it is so that people can appeal decisions. …

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know form-filling and all the rest is a constant source of frustration. I will put on the record of the House, as I have done previously, that I am a farmer. I come from a farming background. My wife and I still have an active farm in south Kildare. It is frustrating that this is happening. Maybe I came come into this role of Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with a farmer's view of red tape and bureaucracy. When we look at the amoun…

It will come up in the next one. I will answer it if I can. I answered a question earlier about when the Department had to introduce mandatory online form filling. Many people made the point that the average age of our farmers is 57 or higher. We have so many farmers in their 70s trying to navigate an IT system. There was huge concern that we would not be able to manage that. People underestimated the resilience and capabilities of farmers in conjunction with their advisers and family members. Great credit is also …

As I said, there is an opportunity in the online form filling element for farmers and for us. I will give the Deputy a very clear commitment here. We constantly review how our systems work. This will be a really challenging year. The first year of a new CAP scheme, with all of the new IT systems, is very challenging for us. If we see a trend of a significant number of farmers all making the same mistake, we will amend, fix and intervene. I assure the Deputy that we constantly review this. We want farmers to be able…

I thank the Deputy for raising this really important point because this is the time of year when sheep farmers' focus is on lambing their ewes. Right now, sheep farmers throughout the country are in their sheds with their ewes wondering what return they will get for their efforts and time in the months ahead. This is a really concerning time for them. Every sector across the country in agriculture has been impacted by the really high rise in input costs created by the Ukraine crisis. That is why we intervened last …

I thank the Senator for raising what is an important issue. He articulated it in terms that I can understand. When he started referencing Kildare and municipal districts, I could see the benefit of municipal districts and how they have worked well to streamline the decision-making process, so I can understand his frustration. On behalf of my colleagues, the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell, and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, I wish to provide an update on the issue to the House. Unfortunately, the Ministe…

I appreciate the points the Senator made and I accept his frustration in that regard. In each of the Dublin local authorities and on Cork and Galway city councils, where area committees exist, decisions can be made in local areas but, as he pointed out, those decisions have to then be brought forward to the council for further discussion. He made his point well on subsidiarity. We know about area committees and recommendations in practice. No more than when a local matter is discussed at full council, councils tend…

We even gave an obligatory mention to Athy because they are here.

I wish the students good morning and it is great to have them here. On behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, I wish to thank Senator Clifford-Lee for raising this matter. I agree with her point that this is not a small matter and that it is important to people looking at it. In every debate we have to have little bit of balance and talk about all the impacts such a decision would have and I might address that in my response. I take on board that this is an important matter. The Public Health (Alcohol) A…

First, this is not just the view of the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, but also the consensus view following the Dáil debate in 2018, when the issue was considered at length.

Okay, but there was a debate of the entire House, and I do not think we should necessarily talk about what various parties said. There is a collective responsibility within the Government now that this is Government policy. The Senator can, by all means, raise the issue with the Minister for Health. Wearing my hat as Minister of State with responsibility for agriculture, I should pull up the Senator on the suggestion these are all large companies. They are not. Many microbreweries and small distilleries are setting…

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter relating to an online advertising tax, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Finance. I understand that the Senator is referring to a tax in the same vein as a digital tax, which has been the subject of discussions in the area of international taxation over recent years. It is the long-held view of the Government that to ensure there is a level playing field between the traditional bricks-and-mortar economy and the digital economy, it is important the …

I again thank the Senator for raising those points and note the frustration with which she articulated them. I will bring them back to the Minister for Finance. I did not necessarily expect the Senator to be happy with the response but, notwithstanding that, a global approach to address the challenges raised by digitalisation under Pillar 1 of the OECD agreement is preferable to unilateral measures such as a digital advertising tax. Unilateral digital taxes only serve to increase international trade tensions, which…

The issue of import costs is a huge concern for us. That is why measures we have introduced across Government have been particularly targeted at supporting farmers. Last year we had the fodder scheme and more than €90 million of different interventions to support farmers in that regard. Government will continue to step in and provide support there. We have also supported farmers with producer organisations and the establishment of same. We very much want to see more farmers work collectively on the sale of their pr…

As for the proposal the Deputy is talking about, I am happy for my officials to look at that and examine it further.

The only people talking about culling the national herd seem to be from the Opposition. Ultimately, we are talking about a Government climate action plan that sets very ambitious targets for how we reduce our emissions profile while continuing to produce top-quality food, as our farmers do throughout the country. Farmers who made the significant investments the Deputy talked about have been supported by the State through targeted agricultural modernisation scheme grants, and other supports in those areas, in order …

It is an academic report that we will consider.

The Deputy should let the Taoiseach answer.