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Make sure you have your pesticides certification before 30th November

Make sure you have your pesticides certification before 30th November

 

Those in the South Kerry area who work with or use pesticides are being encouraged to make sure they have undertaken a certified course before the end of November this year in order to be able to continue to do so. Under a new EU directive, only those with the correct certification will be able to purchase any form of undiluted pesticides after this date. Other non-certified customers will only be able to purchase a diluted form of pesticide from suppliers and suppliers who provide undiluted pesticides to non-certified customers after this date are likely to be committing and offence.

South Kerry Development Partnership is currently organising courses in the region for those who are interested in getting accredited. Up to 7 such courses are planned to take place in the Mid Kerry region alone over the coming months while many other courses will be organised in the other parts of the region. These courses are fully accredited and are open to any interested persons.

SKDP Manager Joseph McCrohan said that it is very important that farmers in particular in the region who use any form of pesticides on their farms, even if only on a very irregular basis, ensure they get their certificate on time. “Where a farmer uses a contractor to spray pesticides on the farm then they are covered under the new directive if they can prove the use of the contractor” Joseph said. “However, any other use of pesticides on a farm by an uncertified person could result in the farmer losing out on some farm payments” he added. Therefore, we would encourage anyone in the South Kerry region who feels they should have this certificate to contact us and register on time to do this course” Joseph concluded.

The course costs €150 with an additional cost for some protective clothing and the certificate issued has a life time validity. Those interested in registering for the course are asked to contact either Joseph McCrohan or John McCrohan in the SKDP offices in Cahersiveen on 066 9472724 or in Killorglin on 066 9761615 for full details.

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Strong interest in developing New Businesses in South Kerry

People in South Kerry are showing strong interest in setting up new businesses if the large turnout at an information meeting on the topic last Thursday night in Killarney is anything to go by. The information meeting was organised by South Kerry Development Partnership’s Enterprise Officers and provided those attending with a range of information around starting up their own businesses. Guest speakers included SKDP CEO Noel Spillane who outlined the range of services the partnership can offer those starting up a business from enabling them access the back to work enterprise allowance to securing training through the Skillnets programme. “I am delighted to see so much interest in starting up businesses in the region and the important thing for people is to contact South Kerry Development Partnership in any of our four offices in order to ensure they can access all of the assistance that is available to them” Noel said.

Michael Kenneally of INTREO outlined the many opportunities that exist for those who are on social welfare to get support in developing their own businesses. “Like Noel, we would encourage people to make contact with us in order to get all of the information and support available” Michael said.

Aoife O’Reilly of South Kerry Skillnets, operated through SKDP, pointed out that in many instances, people who are unemployed can access accredited training for free. “Even if people already have businesses set up, they can avail of training at greatly reduced costs as members of Skillnets” Aoife pointed out. Again, she encouraged people to make contact with her for full details.

Lea Parker-Bond of Pigeon Media highlighted the importance of properly using social media as a key tool in promoting new business and more importantly, she highlighted how easy it actually is to effectively use these tools. “Using video in particular helps to encourage people to engage with your business and there are many free or very cheap software tools out there to enable people create their own video’s” Lea said.

SKDP Enterprise Officer Anne O’Riordan who organised the event said she was delighted with the turnout which exceeded expectations. “We hope that information meeting such as this will encourage people make that initial contact with us and both John McCrohan and myself are available to meet with people to help them take the first steps in starting up their own businesses” Anne said.

 

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