Mr. Joe Healy:

I do not disagree with anything said by Mr. James Healy. If we had a clean canvas, we would go back to 22 June last year. In the absence of that, we seek for the UK to remain in the customs union and retain the closest possible trading links between the UK and European Union. That in itself is not enough and we must maintain the value of the market in the EU, which from an Irish perspective, is worth over €4 billion for agrifood alone. We cannot see a position where the market is undermined by cheaper imports of food from countries where the standards of production are not even close to what we have in this country. I was in Brazil at the end of last year and I have seen production first-hand. We recently saw the lack of trust and sharing of information between the Brazilian authorities and the EU. There is a major breakdown of trust in that regard.

I acknowledge that agriculture is high on the Brexit agenda in this country. We met Mr. Barnier on four different occasions and it was noticeable that he mentioned agrifood four if not five times in his address to the Dáil. I would like to see it a bit further up the agenda and within British Prime Minister May's sphere of interest. It may have been pointed out already this morning but from the UK farmers' perspective, nine of the top ten countries from which the UK imports food are in the EU, with seven of the top ten countries to which it exports food being in the EU. The EU is very important to the UK and especially its farmers. There is also between €3 billion and €3.5 billion going to UK farmers from the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP. The CAP has been very good to all EU consumers. If people are not from a farming background and hear of the Common Agricultural Policy, we might just think of supports for farmers. In 1962, when the CAP was introduced, the average family spent 30% of family income on food; last year, the average family would have spent 12% of average income on food. I would like to think the food produced in Europe is the top-rated in the world. That is what the European consumer is getting as a result of CAP; it is not restricted to the Irish consumer but its effects are felt right across Europe. I mentioned the 300,000 people employed directly or indirectly in agribusiness in this country and there are 44 million Europeans involved in the agrisector. It is a lot of people and, as I mentioned, we are dealing with people's livelihoods.

There has been comment on the level of interest from other EU countries. We have met a good few EU politicians and ambassadors since last June. The message we were getting in July and August was that they were listening to us and, more or less, that they sympathised with us but "they" had to be taught a lesson. I have to be honest and say that was the clear impression I got from them. It was that we cannot have a position where a country is better off outside the EU than inside it. I would like to think that in the mean time perhaps attitudes have softened somewhat. From speaking to politicians from across Europe and other agricultural organisations, I know that when we spoke about just the effect in Ireland, it was grand because it did not affect them; we started talking about the €45 billion of EU food going into the UK, and the negative impact on prices if this is displaced from the UK to the EU market, which is already fully serviced. What would happen with 270,000 tonnes of beef we put into the UK. Geography dictates much trade and that is why the UK is so important for the likes of cheddar, mushrooms, poultry, pig, lamb, beef and dairy products. We would look to the next place beyond the UK, which is the EU market, and we will try to dump - or whatever term one might use - the 270,000 tonnes of beef into the European market. The EU market is already fully serviced for beef.

It is like anything in that once one goes over what is required to supply a market, one will depress the market. We have found that European politicians and other farming organisations will engage when they realise that they would be badly affected if the €45 billion worth were to come back onto their markets. That has been our experience.

I mentioned Germany already. We speak about looking at other markets, which is why I mentioned the need for adequate funding for these areas in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Bord Bia in terms of accessing other markets, even though those markets might not be as good, and they will not be as good. From an Irish point of view, the best market in the world for agrifood products is the UK but we are exporting food to 160 or 170 countries around the world.

Irish food has an incredible reputation. Kerrygold, for example, is the number one butter in Germany. I think it is number two in America. It is incredible that a small country such as Ireland has such a hold in those countries. However, speaking to the top man in Ornua's Kerrygold plant in Germany yesterday, it has taken Kerrygold 40 years of solid progression and building success on success to get where it is today and it is not where it wants to be yet. There are still huge openings to increase its market share. However, we will only increase market share in those countries if there is adequate funding. Yesterday and on previous days, we saw the amount of work Bord Bia has done to highlight the safety and reputation of Irish food. We need to ensure that continues to happen.

On special status, we have always stated that we accept fully that we must negotiate as part of the EU 27. That is clear. However, let us remember that this vote is unprecedented. A lot has been happening over the past months and that will go on in the future. It has been and will be unprecedented from a European point of view. Let us not be afraid to ask or to be bold. All anyone can say is "No". Politicians across Europe understand the significance of the UK market from an Irish point of view. I already mentioned common external tariffs on foreign food coming into the UK or the EU. We need to try to ensure in the negotiations that there is a common external tariff.

Those were the points that I had jotted down. If there were any areas that I have left out, please-----