Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Tánaiste and reiterate the congratulations expressed by others. I had three questions but two of them have been touched on. I reiterate Deputy Paschal Donohoe's concerns regarding the budget being used by certain member states to whip up an anti-EU feeling. Deputy Joe O'Reilly commented on the CAP budget, but the Tánaiste has stated some member states have called for significant cuts to agricultural and cohesion funding. I wonder whether they recognise the role the Common Agricultural Policy plays in guaranteeing food security, protecting rural communities and preventing Europe moving towards a system of factory farming, which would be more likely to happen in the absence of a strong Common Agricultural Policy.

On the Social and Cohesion Funds, the trend in recent years has been to support initiatives in regions as opposed to individual member states. Obviously, there is a cross-Border role, but is the Tánaiste concerned about what that trend would mean for us in the future, including the west and Galway, in particular?