Questions

2152. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total spend by his Department on external legal services in each of the past three years; the main areas of legal activity for which external advice was sought; if he will provide a breakdown by case or category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40852/25]

2153. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount spent on legal fees associated with litigation, advice and settlements in each of the past three years by his Department and agencies under its aegis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40872/25]

2154. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the level of capital funding received by State bodies and semi-State bodies including Teagasc and non-Governmental organizations; if he will provide a detailed list and funding amount for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40985/25]

2155. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide the total number of grant payments issued by the Department in each of the past five years, along with the total value of those grant payments for each year, in tabular form; and to confirm whether these figures include all schemes and discretionary grant programmes administered directly by the Department or through its agenc…

2156. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total number of targets delivered stands at 48% in 2024 in relation to Programme D of his Department’s Section in the Public Service Performance Report 2024 (details supplied); if he will provide information regarding the 23 targets; which targets were met; the targets not met; and the reason targets were not met. [41121/25]

2157. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine by how much the Government intends to reduce the national herd; within what timeframe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41152/25]

2158. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 781 of 15 July 2025, if as previously requested he will clarify if his Department plans to publish a report (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41329/25]

2159. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to expedite the overdue compensation payments for a person (details supplied) for loss of livestock due to TB infection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41333/25]

2160. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the current procedure by which afforestation licence applications are referred to the ecology unit; and the average processing times to first response and final decision. [41348/25]

2161. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the mechanisms that exist to ensure active communication between ecology unit staff, the forest service inspectorate, the forester who submitted the application and the landowner throughout the field assessment process. [41349/25]

2162. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the details of any Service Level Agreement, SLA, or target for maximum review time within the ecology unit; and the proportion of applications exceeding this SLA in each of the past three years. [41350/25]

2163. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if consideration is being given to changes that would allow foresters or landowners to participate with consent in site visits or interim discussions so that unsuitable areas can be flagged early, avoiding wasted time and resources. [41351/25]

2164. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total cost of the running the forest service in each of the years 2020 to 2024, in tabular form. [41352/25]

2165. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide a breakdown of the administration costs per hectare, by licence type for afforestation, felling, and forest road; the total hectares processed under each licence category; and the average administration cost per hectare for applications that were ultimately approved versus those that were withdrawn or refused, for eac…

2166. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the average processing time for applications under the re-establishment upon successful reconstitution scheme dealing with ash die-back replanting, broken down by application size. [41354/25]

2167. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total number of hectares approved and replanted under the re-establishment upon successful reconstitution scheme since its inception. [41355/25]

2168. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason applications for re-establishment on already planted land suffer the same lengthy delays as new afforestation applications; and the steps that will be taken to introduce an expedited decision making track for diseased stands. [41356/25]

2169. Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of people prosecuted for failing to register equines in each of the years 2023 to 2024 and to date in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41391/25]

2170. Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of people prosecuted for horse neglect under the Control of Horses Act, 1996, and under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, in each of the years 2023 to 2024, and to date in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41392/25]

2171. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if all external legal fees incurred by his Department, and by any bodies under its aegis, are charged at negotiated discounted rates; how fees are monitored for compliance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41496/25]

2172. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department conducts regular benchmarking, or market testing, to ensure that the rates paid for legal services, solicitors and barristers, represent value for money for the taxpayer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41514/25]

2173. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to detail the procurement processes used when engaging external legal firms and barristers, including whether panels are used; how often these are refreshed; the criteria used for selection and performance review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41532/25]

2174. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has conducted any audits or reviews in the past five years on legal fee spend; if so, to publish the findings or summaries of those reviews; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41550/25]

2175. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the internal oversight that exists within his Department to monitor the scope, duration, and cost escalation of legal services once engaged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41568/25]

2176. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department makes use of capped fee arrangements, fixed-fee briefs, success-based fee models or other such arrangements in its legal engagements; if not, the reason such options are not considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41586/25]