Neale Richmond (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to welcome the IFA. It speaks before us regularly and gave a very strong presentation to the Seanad Special Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union hearings earlier in the year. Despite my accent there are 63 members of the IFA living in my constituency. While it is not perhaps a big issue for many of my constituents as other people around this table there are a few key issues in which a few of us Dubs have an interest.

I congratulate the witness on his re-election. It was a mighty contest and it is a reflection on the work he has been doing in recent years.

On the wider area of new alliances for Ireland in Europe in the future, one of our strongest alliances, when it comes to the CAP, is with France. The witness raised a number of concerns about Mercosur. I understand and share those concerns. In a previous life, in the trade portfolio, I covered the regions in the committee. It was easier then because we were talking about the trade deal with Japan, but there were issues with the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP. However, Mercosur presents a different level of challenge to Ireland specifically that our colleagues in Europe may not feel to the same extent. TTIP and CETA raised challenges for trade movement in Germany and that challenge was far more pronounced than it was here. What are the alliances for the IFA in terms of other farm organisations across Europe, and how is it working to build agreement? When it comes to the CAP and agricultural policy in general does, Mr. Healy agree that France remains our strongest ally? How do we retain that alliance? As the current French President is a Europhile, perhaps it will be easier but it will be more difficult as one sees the rise of the hard left and the protectionist nature of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and others within France.

I want to ask about the IFA's role in the conversation on all European issues in the future. Mr. Healy's statement that "Irish farmers remain strongly positive towards the European Union, recognising the benefits that EU membership and the CAP have delivered" is key. I appreciate the strong role that the IFA has played, especially in recent months, in terms of preparing their members and Irish society at large for the fallout from Brexit. There have been rare occasions where I would argue that the IFA's contribution to the pro-European movement in Ireland has been lacking. I am thinking of the first Lisbon treaty, when it entered the debate at a very late stage and was not enthusiastic in its support. The vacuum created allowed many of the misinformed eurosceptic organisations to take a hold and take root in certain rural communities, which ultimately led to the fall of that referendum. When the referendum was run a second time, as well as with the one on the fiscal stability treaty, we saw the IFA throw their resources behind it. I fear greatly, however, that in the future, that calculated risk could be taken again. I am not talking as someone who is looking for constant balanced argument. I am talking strongly as a really pro-European politician. I believe Europe is the key to the future of our agrifood sector. We were at the launch of a future of Europe discussion this morning. There has been a 90-fold increase in trade for Ireland since we joined the EEC in 1973. Much of that trade has been in the agrifood sector. While the challenges of Brexit will be massive for the agrifood industry - particularly for certain things such as cheddar cheese - we will still rely on our next nearest market beyond the UK being the EU. While there is huge potential in south-east Asia in particular for certain sectors, and indeed Australia, but ultimately our greatest level of partnership will be on the Continent. I make my next point as a comment, not a challenge. As we go forward into this highly challenging post-Brexit era, where the Government and Irish civic society will be committed to having good relations with the UK but to staying in and being at the heart of the EU, where our future lies, we really need to see the IFA and other similar organisations maintain that commitment. I do not want to take away from what Mr. Healy said. I was heartened to hear it but I want to put on record that we need to see that commitment constantly in the future. I am all for constructive criticism where needs be but I warn against the occasional calculated risk.