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Last updated at 2.45pm.
IRELAND’S EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER-Designate put in a polished performance this morning, at a confirmation hearing before the EU Parliament’s agriculture committee.
The Kilkenny politician spent over two-and-a-half hours answering questions from dozens of MEPs earlier. In a vote this afternoon, the majority of the panel voted in favour of his confirmation.
Irish MEPs Luke ‘Ming’ Flangan and Matt Carthy had promised to make things uncomfortable for the Fine Gael veteran during the proceedings this morning — but the format meant they were unable to follow up on their questions immediately, and their anticipated challenge didn’t appear to have the desired impact.
Hogan dealt with a question from Sinn Féin’s Carthy by reading out a letter from the MEP’s party colleague in the Stormont administration, Michelle O’Neill.
In her letter, the Northern Ireland agriculture minister warmly congratulated the Kilkenny politician on his appointment to a “prestigious portfolio”.
She also asked him for an early meeting to discuss a range of agricultural issues, Hogan said, before adding…
There seems to be a little break-down in discipline in Sinn Fein, and I hope you won’t get into trouble with it.
Effectively a political ‘smackdown’, Hogan’s response drew applause from his supporters in the chamber.
Carthy had used his brief questioning time to raise a range of issues , including the legal letters sent by Hogan’s representatives to Nessa Childers and consultancy fees at Irish Water.
The Commissioner-Designate didn’t address the MEP’s question on the Childers affair directly, but said that, as an experienced politician: “I know what parliamentary privilege is and I know what it isn’t”.
On the €180 million set-up cost of Irish water, he re-iterated his stance on the issue that ”if you’re going to set up a new system, it costs money to do so.”
Irish Water CVs
Flanagan used his question to ask whether voters could expect more ‘cronyism’ during the Fine Gael politician’s term as Commissioner, and raised the fact that Hogan had sent the CVs of constituents to Irish Water chief John Tierney shortly after the semi-state company was set up (as reported in this morning’s Irish Independent).
Replying, Hogan thanked Flanagan for his ‘brevity’ and said he had sent the CVs in his role as a representative politician, observing that his influence must be waning, as “none of them got a job”.
The two Irish MEPs appeared frustrated not to have the opportunity to follow up on their initial questions.
The hearing
The proceedings, which lasted over two and a half hours, began shortly 8am.
His microphone picked up some brief conversations between Hogan and other politicians before things got under way officially. In an exchange with Fine Gael’s Mairead McGuinness, the MEP implied that he would have a friend in the room, if things “get too hot”…
In his opening remarks, Hogan spoke about how he grew up on a farm in Co Kilkenny, and talked up his 32-year career as a public representative. Much of that time was spent dealing with rural affairs, he said.
Setting out his priorities for his time in office, Hogan said he would comprehensively screen the Common Agricultural Policy to see how the legislation could be simplified. He said the Russian ban on agricultural products was the most urgent challenge facing his department.
McGuinness (below) – a former agriculture journalist and TV presenter - was the first MEP to contribute, with a question about the prices large supermarket chains are paying to producers.
Hogan said that if unfair practices continued, he was willing to look at legal instruments to ensure a “good and fair price for producers, and not the declining price that we have at the moment”.
Plan Bee
Hogan drew laughter and applause from the chamber early in the session, during a good-natured exchange with UKIP MEP Stewart Agnew.
The British politician asked the Commissioner Designate if he would accept an invitation to his own farm to ”inspect my wildflower mix, that hums with bees in summer”.
Hogan’s deadpan response…
Don’t expect me to farm your land as well.
Stewart Agnew of UKIP.
Hogan went on to deal with a broad range of questions from committee members over the following hours — on issues like CAP, milk quotas and biofuels.
Sustainability
Summing up, shortly after 10.30, Hogan said that agriculture should play a central role in driving jobs and growth in Europe.
The flight from the land in many of our member states is being reversed, as food production becomes a specialised and highly skilled task again. And there is a living to be made from farming right across Europe again.
He revisited the issue of sustainability, and said that farming “must not be done in a way that wastes that most precious resource, water”.
It must be done in a way that uses energy with infinite care and control.
He promised to visit all of the member states early in his tenure, and pledged to listen to all interested stakeholders “so as to ensure that the agricultural policy in the European Commission draws on the wealth and wisdom in each”.
Facing the media
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Hogan said it was difficult to assess his own performance — but he appeared pleased with how he had done.
Responding to a question from The Irish Times, he said…
I’ve set out all of my priorities and I answered all the questions for three hours and maybe you should try it sometime.
That’s representational politics in the Irish sense — which I’m sure everybody is very familiar with.
Didn’t he do well?
The initial reaction, amongst MEPs and observers alike, was that Hogan had done what he needed to do…
For and against…
The various political groupings in the Parliament met afterwards to discuss the hearing, and the issue was later put to a vote by the panel…
[Note: Votes by EU committees are non-binding in these circumstances --- but they are often used as a way of raising concerns about an individual's candidacy. For a primer on how the nomination process for Commissioner works, and why committees can't veto individual nominees, check out our handy 'explainer'].
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Who is going to hand back child benefit? They didn’t get rich for handing back free money
Totally agree I actually laughed when I heard this. For Christ sake is this the best they can do :(
I had to read it twice to make sure I wasn’t imagining it. I’ve never heard the like before.
I know!
If people won’t even pay the household charge they’re hardly likely to volunteer to hand back money.
The best bit is “If they choose to”. Its still only the wealthy who have a choice. The rest of us have to pay up and keep smiling.
This government is clearly showing it is a government for those that have
this is one of the most crass and stupid ideas iv’e ever heard of, does Joan actually think that people will hand back their c/a? you might get 1 or 2 t.d’s who will do it for show , but as for the majority of them ,no chance. can the government not see that the rich will do anything to hold onto what they have ? you only have to look at all the tax loopholes and scams to see that , should be capped at 50k p/a on a sliding scale up to 100k p/a, anyone on more that 100k should not be entitled to c/a. another government stunt to fool the sheeple of Ireland into thinking they are going after the rich for a change,
great news…no doubt the white man will be giving back America and Australia to their rightful owners..I think I’ll just sit here until that burglar returns with the swag. Oh look..its Bertie looking sheepish…and he has all his hats in a sack….and there go the settlers from the West Bank…what a day..
You just made my day, thank you!
Will Hogan hand back the property tax to the poor of Ireland ?.
Only in Ireland! What’s next? Will government apply the law in accordance with ones wealth, and social standing? Or am I just being totally ridiculous? Surely a democracy dictates that all it’s people are deemed as equals!!
I’m not sure you’ve got to grips with the mechanics of a typical “democracy”, which emphatically does not treat everybody as equals.
We are not all entitled to the same benefits, based on our employment status, age, ability/disability, housing circumstance, number of children (if any) etc etc.
We do not all pay equal tax, either as a flat fee, or as a % of our earnings.
Do you find that objectionable?
No doubt the “new system” for handing back this money will have to be “developed at a cost” , someones nephew will get the contract or it will be outsourced to a foreign body and will probably cost more then it will ever generate …. I wonder how much we spent on those stupid chewing gum in the bin adverts and who got the contract to do that pile of rubbish , recession my butt this govt is just inventing new ways to blow money and keep it circulating in closed veins
Well said Karac!
And the tv license ads! How much is spent by unfunny ads V the amount taken in lol
In fairness the TV licence ads are hilarious.
Even if they don’t collect any money from it, they’re still worth it.
This is the government thinking it looks looks like they are doing something great when they are doing nothing at all! You have to claim child benefit, it doesn’t just get sent to you once you give birth. So if people have applied for it despite their wealth, they’re not going to voluntarily hand it back. It’s a – rather sick – joke! Barnardos has to close for a week to save money, Childline can’t afford to answer all calls – these are childrens charities that are not ‘benefiting’ but many that don’t need it are?? Screwed up country.
Why would anyone in their right mind hand back free money! You would question the sanity of people to do that!!
not at all..sure thats how the rich get rich…by giving back what they’ve stolen from the sweat of working people..
Look at CJH and all the toothbrushes he distributed…and he never looked back, not even when his kids inherited his gains…
..and then there is Rome giving back the loot it sweated out of child labour and the 1bn tax compo Woods scammed to pay their criminal shares…
Look here come Seanie Fitz and Fingers crying all the way home from their offshore stashes…
..and wasn’t Lizzie windsor only over last (when was it again?)to pay back all her dynasty extracted down the centuries..and her pin-striped vicroys queuing to kiss her ring.
Stop being so cynical…this measure will ensure our economic recovery…well provided we keep on emigrating.
Altruism?
Its not unheard of in human history, you know.
“why would anybody in their right mind hand back free money”?
Not many will, but a few may.
Not everybody sees it as “free”; somebody’s paying for it
So the wealthy get to make a choice about whether or not they receive benefits they dont need, whilst the poorest who are utterly dependent on welfare to survive and look after their chidren, have theirs slashed !!!Aahhhhh!!! Its more like Gullivers travels every day.
Yawn Rebecca…how is your new BMW running these days. BTW, I don’t have a car – can’t afford one !!!
I think you must be mixing me up with someone else.
My god we really have hit rock bottom…….
talk about scraping the barrell. Relying on the wealthy to hand back their mickey money….. Why dont we ask the government to work free for a couple of weeks??…..Seems this government will do just about anything and take from anyone(kids,sick people,old,young,rich,poor) than burn the bleedin bondholders who took the risk of investing…….
Never mind the Whale, Save The Dandy!
We need a sponsored Desperate Dan Cow-Pie Eating Marathon.
Its the only way.
this is sad, why dont the publishers combine the both comics into one ,thats a win/win situation.
Haha that is a joke! Hand back money, Child Benefit IF THEY CHOOSE TO!!!! Ridiculous! They should not get CB in the first place!
.. yeah and the SO WRONG is they DON”T ASK the poor if they want, with no jobs around, their social welfare to be cut and just survive on 200/week and less and they only ASK the wealthy to MAYBE pay back their money if THEY CHOOSE to….man change is soooooo necessary…..Is the government soooo afraid of the wealthy….all swimming in one SOUP I guess and afraid to loose out themselves….LETS FINALLY GET RID of government, who needs that???? It is so wrong and so sad and nobody says something or is in the roads like other countries!!! I will lead and organise a rebellion I have loads of topics on my list ;-) Who will join me? ;-) ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!
“Get rid of government”? Are you proposing anarchy as the solution?!
Typical irish government,i wonder will they give welfare dependant families a choice to have their benifets cut? Oh God no,the less well off do not matter in this country.
Well done Joan Burton. With leadership and decisive decision making like this, it’s no wonder the world holds the Irish in such esteem. How much money is wasted paying this fool to run (allegedly) a Government Department.
You married to Joan?
the dodgy deals of cronyism is the reason we, like greece and spain, are in the state we are in. Asking the rich to do this, is nothing other than a show piece. When they refuse, the government puts thier collective hands up and say ‘we tried’. As Stand said to Olly, thats another fine mess ! Or maybe it was all just a Gift Grub sketch….
They have a 20billion budget and this is the best they can come up with.
CB costs the state 2bn a yr and “apparently” there are people who have tried to return their payments but were told that there’s no way of processing returns! Great system eh?!
if thats the case Alan why did they claim c/a in the first place? you have to ‘claim’ c/a which means that the people who say they want o give it back actively sort to claim the payment in the first place.
I don’t have kids so I don’t know but surely if people apply for it, they should be able to be refused?! Or is the form “Do you have a child? If yes, please insert bank details you would like your payments made to. “
A hometown welcome for each medal winner….except Cian O’Connor? What’s all that about?
Drugs, maybe?
Maybe they are waiting for the horses drug tests to be finalised this time round………..
what language is that?
The media are clearly throwing this around as they thrive on public outrage. Everyone is making a massive deal about it. They’re simply putting in place a means of returning the benefit where previously there was none. There has been a precedent for people trying to do this, what’s with the cynicism?
I agree with the ridiculous tv licence campaign that too is a total waste of cash ( how much did it cost does anybody know ???
But the best has to be insurance fraud!!! ” it’s costing everybody ” some sham with a sore neck is ruining the country’s premiums ??? How about the levy imposed by the Quinn disaster ? We will be paying that for 20 years !!!
Put that robbing git Quinns mush on the poster !!!!! Cheaper and more effective
We can throw things at it on our way to our over taxed jobs !!!
And it’s not the first time either!!!!!! it happened 20 years ago when pmpa were bailed out by the govt gareth Fitzgerald put the levy on all premiums in the 80s to pay that back that’s was why I was quoted 3.500 euro on a ford fiesta when I was a lad
How do we have a say in what happens within the govt ministers should have to hold a vote for ALL money decisions made from now on it’s the people’s money let the people decide
yes yes yes but when is the homecoming thought it was Wednesday lunchtime !?
There were two bray boxers on that bus. Just saying.
Fine Gael and Fianna fail have always been the parties for those that have, labour is supposed to be the workers party, oh how James Connolly must be looking down on them in shame. It is a disgrace that they can chose whether or not they want the money, as if anyone is going to refuse free money, Joan button would rather take money in the form of cuts from those who cannot as it is, afford to live.
as far as im aware you dont have to claim child benifit ,the way it works is when the baby is registered it is automaticly sent to you withen a couple of weeks .now could they not have a box on the registration form ….i do/dont want to claim child benifit ,no cost involved just a bit of joined up thinking ,not too sure how many would say no though
Stan…..predicitve text fail. :-)
so right Caroline, not one of those responsible for the mess we are in has been brought to book , whether they are bankers,developers,politicians or regulators they have all walked away with big pensions, secure off shore bank accounts and very little to be worried about. meanwhile the rest of us are sweating on what the next budget will bring, hell we dont even have control of that anymore thanks to Cowen and the Troicre. as other here have said will those on s/w have a choice to be cut or not? will those on low pay have the choice to be brought into the tax belt ? will those on middle incomes have the choice to pay tuition fees for 3rd level education that is so important for our countries and our children’s future? simple answer NO! we will just have to suck it up and take what we are given, meanwhile the likes of Fingleton, Ahern, Quinn, Harney and the rest will live lives of comfort and not have a worry in the world. but until the people of this country (and the rest of the Eurozone) are willing to stand up to the political classes and put them out on their ear nothing will change. If only we’d had the guts and the will of the Icelandic people, then these crooks and shysters would be behind prison bars not the Dail one.
have your say