Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am keen to follow the same train of thought as Deputy Cahill with regard to food inflation. During the week the chief executive of Tesco said that food inflation in the UK would be a major issue for next year because of sterling. The UK consumer will be significantly affected by Brexit. They will be paying more for product. That will be a key factor in where we go as a country. The UK is one of our main markets and this will be a key factor in how we supply UK consumers. I am keen to hear the thoughts of the Teagasc officials on how they intend to model the market in future. In many ways, the consumer in the UK will be grossly affected by Brexit. Food inflation will affect them more than us. I am interested to learn how Teagasc will model the arguments in this regard and how the market can benefit.

We need to consider the entire picture. Food prices and markets are important. Another major issue is CAP. For us, CAP is a major point. We are starting the next iteration of CAP reform in the coming months. The way we, as a nation, can deal with this will be crucial. The thought of having a cut in CAP in this market or in this area at the moment is frightening. That aspect has not really come to the forefront before today. Not only could Irish farmers have an issue regarding markets, there could be knock-on effects because of the cut in the European budget. That will be significant. The coming years will be rocky.

I come from Cork, which is a long way from the Border. However, cross-Border production is vital, especially when it comes to milk, pork and beef production. It is difficult to envisage a scenario of regulating building or manufacturing on both sides of the Border within two years. To me, it simply cannot be done. I cannot imagine how Lakeland Dairies or other companies could manage to process milk on both sides of the Border to the necessary degree in a matter of a few months. A five year plan is probably the only logical way. Whether it is logical in the context of Brexit is another issue. We are going to see exactly what will happen.