Results 381-400 of 2,978 for speaker:Martin Heydon

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Wastewater Treatment (30 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Deputy for the follow-on remarks on the provision of water treatment facilities in County Kerry. I assure him the Government is committed to ensuring substantial funding is provided to Irish Water, as I outlined in my response. The programme for Government commits to funding Irish Water's capital investment plan for water and wastewater infrastructure on a multi-annual basis....

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: I thank Members for being here today and for their level of engagement on this topic. It is my first time to address this issue in the Seanad. I am doing so in place of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and the Minister of State, Senator Hackett. I am aware of the concerns which have been articulated by Senators. I would like to acknowledge the points made by Senators Boyhan, Lombard,...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: I thank Members for the many and varied points they made. Senator Gavan asked a couple of specific questions. I go back to his earlier statement that he is not asking to negotiate in this room. I will not negotiate in this room; I do not have the mandate to do that. I will bring the points raised in this forum back to the Minister. I accept the points made about trust, communication,...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: I will start with Senator Burke's point. I was responding to his question about where the three to five year period came from. That is the general principle. It is about identifying the profitability of the company. To use ten years, it would need to be proven that the business had a cyclical nature. It is about trying to get away from one set year that might have been a bad year. Three...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: Our job here is to look at that legislation and see how we do that.To respond to Senator Boylan, part of my earlier response was that Department officials have a good knowledge of these firms because of their inspection system down through the years. I am not familiar with the exact role Grant Thornton played in that in respect of visits, but we are dealing with Department officials who know...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: To respond to Senator Gavan, that is no problem. The point I made when the Senator stepped out was that I had written out three specific sentences he wants me to put on the record of the House. However, I brought the debate back to the Senator's initial contribution, in which he said he was not asking anyone in this room to negotiate. The level of detail he is talking about, to my mind,...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: Senator Gavan and I are splitting hairs somewhat. His interpretation of negotiation and mine are somewhat different. He does not think what he says involves negotiation; I think it does. I have made my view on that clear enough. We can keep talking about it but I will not get into that level of detail here tonight. As for the draft regulations, I have committed to bringing to the...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: I thank Senators Boylan and Moynihan for the points they raised regarding amendment No. 7 and, by extension, amendment No. 8. The definitions outlined in amendments Nos. 7(a) and (b), and amendments Nos. 8(a) and (b) remove the provision to create narrow strips of native trees. Creating these areas in undisturbed water setbacks can be used to deliver meaningful ecosystem services that...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: Amendments Nos. 15 and 15a are being addressed together as they both relate to the provision of statistics at local electoral area. My Department provides very comprehensive forestry statistics on a weekly basis through the forestry dashboard. Information is provided on afforestation, eroding and felling. Monthly statistics are also provided on a broader range of statistics that are...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: Amendments Nos. 16 and 27 are being addressed together as they both propose to insert a requirement that any regulation to introduce a scheme will be laid before and agreed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. My Department manages a wide range of schemes that provide support for landowners. These schemes are introduced in a manner which engages with stakeholders across the sector and the...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: The Department has long-established procedures in place for taking into consideration the level of forest cover adjacent to domestic dwellings. Set-back distances are most critical when a building is surrounded by forests. In the general afforestation scheme, provisions are made for tree planting adjacent to buildings through the scheme requirements. For example, our existing requirements...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: As the Senator outlined, the amendment seeks to exclude the planting of native trees on peat soils. I recognise that climate change and other legacy issues have been created by the afforestation of peat soils in the past. However, we have examples of woodlands, such as birch, naturally occurring on peat soils. The types of soil to be afforested will be given full consideration during the...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: The amendment proposes to insert the native Irish or Burren pine on the list of native tree species. I take it that the Senator is referring to the small population of Scots pine in the Rock Forest in County Clare, which is said to be derived from the original native Scots pine trees. While people refer to these tress as native Irish or Burren pine, these trees are still considered Scots...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Senator for the points that he has raised. With regard to amendments No. 13 and 30, the list of native tree species detailed in section 2 of the Schedule includes all native tree species and for that reason also includes the yew species. There are a small number of naturally occurring yew forests in Ireland, which are a protected habitat type and, therefore, the inclusion of the...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: No. For those reasons I am not accepting the amendment.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: This gets to the nub of how prescriptive we get in primary legislation. This is about not tying our hands in respect of the strategic environmental assessment and that process. Serious consideration will have to be given to this species. I am familiar with it and I have a tree on my land at home, which is in an old graveyard. That is where the individual specimens tend to be located.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: They may have been put in place where people could not afford a headstone back in the day, unfortunately. I know the danger yew trees pose to livestock, but the point here, in the context of the connection with hazel and the holly, is that the Department wishes to keep this option open and not rule it out at this stage.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: Serious consideration will be given to this aspect, however, and it will not be mandatory.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: On this amendment, which proposes that hawthorn and blackthorn be added to the list of native species specified in Schedule 2, the list of native trees specified there includes all native tree species. Hawthorn and blackthorn are considered shrub species and therefore they have not been considered for inclusion in this scheme, along with other native tree species such as elder and spindle....

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2022)

Martin Heydon: I thank Senators for their comments. On Senator Boylan's point, Scots pine is still a recommended species in our afforestation scheme but monitoring of that disease is ongoing. The Senator highlighted the damage the likes of Dutch elm disease have done before. We are acutely aware of the challenges in those areas and are keeping a close eye on them.