Results 1-20 of 980 for speaker:Michelle Gildernew

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Clause 12 (Seizure and destruction of things liable to spread disease) (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. We are nearly there. I beg to move amendment No 10: In page 11, leave out lines 1 and 2. The following amendment stood on the Marshalled List: No 13: In schedule 3, page 21, line 34, leave out from “In Article 6(3)” to “that time’.” — [The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ms Gildernew).]

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Clause 12 (Seizure and destruction of things liable to spread disease) (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: Amendment No 10 will remove clause 12(c) from the Bill. Clause 12 extends the range of items that may be seized to prevent the spread of disease so that it includes anything that is animate or inanimate. Clause 12(c) provides for compensation for seized items at their value at the time of seizure. In the case of items that are contaminated with disease, for example, eggs from an infected...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Clause 12 (Seizure and destruction of things liable to spread disease) (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: In the spirit of succinctness, I will also keep my comments very brief. I thank all the Members who contributed to the debate today. It has been a very professional, mature and courteous debate. Business has been carried out in a very helpful manner. Nobody can be in any doubt about the importance that this House places on the agricultural industry and the passion, care and concern that...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Clause 11 (Deliberate infection) (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. The debate has been a good reflection of what is contained in the legislation. There has been a lot of interest in what we can do to punish people who deliberately infect animals. The penalty for the offence of the deliberate infection of animals is imprisonment for a period of up to two years or an unlimited fine, or both. The courts can hand down a...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Clause 11 (Deliberate infection) (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: I beg to move amendment No 6: In page 9, line 36, at end insert “( ) If a person is convicted of an offence under Article 5A and, at any time after the date of that conviction, that person is convicted of a further offence under that Article, the court shall by order disqualify that person, for such period as it thinks fit, from keeping or dealing in— (a) any animals or poultry,...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Again, I want to acknowledge the volume of work that has been done on this part of the Bill. The Chairman of the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development explained the timeline. I was exhausted just listening to him. We can often forget the time and effort that goes into such matters. It is good to be reminded that much deliberation and...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: I think that the caller was phoning to tell me to shut up. An improvement in farm biosecurity across the North and, in particular, in brucellosis risk areas will undoubtedly make a major contribution to our attempt to eradicate the disease. That is a globally acknowledged fact. If people follow biosecurity guidance, that will certainly greatly reduce the risk of acquiring brucellosis....

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Clause 8 (Biosecurity guidance) (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: I beg to move amendment No 4: In page 8, line 43, at end insert “(3) The Department may by order prescribe the circumstances in which it may withhold, either wholly or partly, compensation or any other payment in respect of an animal slaughtered under this Order where— (a)      the slaughter has been necessitated by brucellosis;...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Clause 8 (Biosecurity guidance) (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Clause 8 of the Bill will enable the Department to prepare and publish statutory biosecurity guidance for dealing with specific diseases. That guidance will include practical measure that farmers can take to prevent the introduction of disease to their premises. The importance of having a common set of biosecurity standards that everyone will have to...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Clause 4 (Powers of entry) (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: Go raibh míle maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I will take the opportunity to respond to the Chairperson of the Committee’s comments on bovine TB before addressing the substantive elements of this afternoon’s debate. Although the Bill provides additional powers for dealing with animal disease, it is not specifically related to bovine TB, as the Assembly accepted when it...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Clause 4 (Powers of entry) (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I beg to move amendment No 1: In page 4, line 22, at end insert “Powers of entry under warrant: code of practice 46D.—(1) An inspector who enters any premises by virtue of a warrant issued under Article 46B shall comply with a code of practice which has been published under paragraph (4) and has not been withdrawn. (2) The Department shall...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: EU Fisheries Council (16 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: I take the Member’s point about the gear. The EU is keen to avoid discards of selective fishing gear. Under the EFF, money and support will be available for fishermen who want to replace those nets. I know that it is a small part of the problem, but we recognise the challenges in that area.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: EU Fisheries Council (16 Nov 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I hope that I get the same amount of latitude as Ms Ritchie, because I have much to cover to reflect today’s debate. First, I congratulate Messrs Paisley Jnr, Shannon and Irwin on securing the debate, and I welcome the interest that Members have shown in the fishing industry. I acknowledge the role that the Committee has played, and I am...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Question for urgent oral answer: Cattle Theft: Keady (13 Oct 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: The question is about the theft of 16 cattle infected by tuberculosis (TB) that were under the control of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) on the Castleblayney Road in Keady on Monday 5 October. The contracted haulier arranged to collect 17 TB-reactor cattle from a herd in Armagh. Initial indications are that, when the haulier arrived at the farm, he was unable to...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Question for urgent oral answer: Cattle Theft: Keady (13 Oct 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: I want to clear up a couple of points. First, this type of theft has never occurred in the North before, and my Department will review procedures as a result. I emphasise that the responsibility for this crime — it is a crime — rests with the people who committed it. Those people are content to undermine the good work that DARD and the industry are doing to control and eradicate...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Question for urgent oral answer: Cattle Theft: Keady (13 Oct 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: I do not have a valuation of the animals. An indicative value is around £1,000 a beast, so we are talking about a value of £17,000 for the 17 animals. However, I stress that that is a ballpark figure. We informed the PSNI about the theft, and we talked to the Garda Síochána to let them know that the animals were in transit somewhere and that they should be on the alert. As...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Agriculture And Rural Development: Dangerous Dogs (12 Oct 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: At the moment, councils retain the collected revenue to help with their provision of dog wardens, and that will also be the case in future. I cannot possibly comment on whether Mr Kennedy is neutered or muzzled.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Agriculture And Rural Development: Dangerous Dogs (12 Oct 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: I regret that our initial discussions with the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee were taken so badly out of context by the media. A lot of people were concerned about the implications that it would have for them. I appeared on a BBC programme to try to reassure people, but that did not work, and I was unable to get the message across that dog licensing was only one element of what...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Agriculture And Rural Development: Rural Childcare Strategy (12 Oct 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: I set up the rural childcare stakeholder group in July 2007 and, in March 2008, I was pleased to present its report ‘Rural Childcare: Investing in the Future’ to the ministerial subcommittee on children and young people. The report contained a number of cross-cutting recommendations, including the development of a DARD rural childcare programme. It also ensured that rural...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Agriculture And Rural Development: Rural Childcare Strategy (12 Oct 2009)

Michelle Gildernew: Applications were restricted to pilot or demonstration projects run by community or regional representative organisations that address the key areas highlighted in the rural stakeholders’ report, such as access, early-years integration, quality, sustainability and affordability in a rural context. Of the total of 57 applications, 31 passed the initial eligibility sift. The applications...