John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It strikes me that because of our increased peripheral nature in the European Union, that we are unquestionably the most peripheral member state. We have no land border with another member state now. In terms of the Common Agricultural Policy and disadvantaged area, we should be making the case that one cannot compare the small businessman who is trying to do his best to succeed, the small farmer who has 30 acres of marginal land south of Munich with the farmer in west Limerick who might have 30 acres of good land but who has to get his product thousand of miles across borders. I am strongly pro-European but I refer to our increased peripheral nature within the European Union.

We, as politicians, and Government will have to make an argument about our peripheral location into the future and I am sure we will have the support of IBEC in making it.

I thank Mr O'Brien, Mr. Brady and Ms Wrynn for their attendance. We will have further meetings on the subject and I have no doubt Mr. O'Brien will appear before the committee again. Deputy Broughan was the instigator of some of these meetings.