Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have been at the table of a number of discussions on CAP renegotiations. On each occasion, I heard of how CAP was to be simplified only for every renegotiated CAP to end up more complicated than the one preceding it. I will believe what we are being told this time when I see it come to fruition. Farmers have seen no simplification of CAP. It has not happened up to now and I do not believe it will ever happen.

In terms of the pressure on the budget, we can argue about how to divide the cake but if we are starting off with a smaller cake, then we are starting from a bad place. The defence of that budget and the EU budget must be our primary concern. We must keep the EU budget in tact and following on from that we must keep the agricultural budget in tact. We have two battles to fight on that front.

Mr. Gleeson did not mention intervention. We forgot about intervention for a number of years. There are 380,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder in intervention, which has been there for some time now.

While milk prices have increased significantly, skimmed milk powder prices have not. Had the intervention structure not been in place in 2015, I do not know where milk prices would have ended up. The intervention mechanism is extremely important to us in terms of the floor it put under milk prices and the storage of skimmed milk powder. We should not lose sight of the intervention supports. While we might have thought that floor was bad there is, at least, a floor now. This must be borne in mind in the context of the negotiations. It is not popular to talk about intervention but the floor price is extremely important and we need to keep our eye on the ball in that regard.

In regard to small farmers and the redistribution of the CAP budget, our definition of a small farmer and Europe's definition of a small farmer are completely different. As a country, we need to be extremely careful about budget redistribution. The European average in comparison with our average is far apart. On volatility in the different sectors, I do not know if the single farm payment should be linked with the management of volatility. I would have serious concerns about how that would be done. For example, would it be done through the type of insurance arrangement that has been spoken about previously? Insurance comes at a cost. On the dairy side, fixed price schemes are being put in place to address volatility to which people, depending on their financial circumstances, can sign up. Some people need stability if they have a large amount of bank debt. I would be worried about Brussels getting involved in volatility. Its proposals are cumbersome and would probably benefit farmers less than they would cost them. I would need to see more flesh on that proposal. I would not be anxious to go down that route.

On greening and the move towards environmental payments, as a country we should not be afraid of this. We are in a far better place than the rest of Europe in this regard. This is something we could push for the benefit of our sectors. Our agriculture is more sustainable and we can prove that without any fear of contradiction. I would have no concerns about that.

Mr. Gleeson mentioned health issues. I believe it is going to become a big issue in this area. Mr. Gleeson also mentioned consumer concerns and consumers looking for better value for money. This is in direct contradiction to what we see happening with Mercosur. How it is proposed to get the two to lie in the one bed will be interesting. Again, this is something which we can use to our advantage. On access for beef imports to Europe from other parts of the world this could lead to consumer concerns being raised in CAP and rightly so because at the end of the day the European taxpayer pays for CAP. We produce food to a very high standard. The European consumer makes no apology for demanding high standards. There must be a level playing field for European farmers. If there is to be access to our market then other countries must also have to meet high standards.

On generation renewal, the age profile of our farmers is a serious concern. We are trying to encourage young people to enter into farming. The retirement scheme of the past was successful in terms of encouraging farmers to hand on farms to the next generation. I would welcome more detail on the proposals from Brussels to finance a scheme that would allow older farmers to pass on the land and also have financial security.

Mr. Gleeson made a huge number of points in his statement. They must all be seriously developed to ensure that we get the best we can from them. It is like cattle negotiations. We start in one place and end up in another. The budget is definitely key. In my view, the CAP has never been under as big a threat as it is at the moment. We have a big battle ahead and we need a united front. At the CAP negotiations, the percentage of the budget and the overall amount of the budget are the two key components with which we have to start.