Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

From our perspective, that would not be acceptable because Brexit is already impacting significantly on Irish agriculture. We hear a lot about solidarity and a lot of words around that. I acknowledge that the EU has stood with Ireland but I really cannot impress on the Commissioner how much a double whammy of Brexit and a cut to CAP would hurt Irish agriculture. Over the last week Irish agriculture has suffered because of the extreme weather.

When we talk about the rebates to the wealthier countries, we could talk about money that the EU wastes in terms of the arms industry and military development. Having CAP on the chopping board is not acceptable and I would say it is a matter of choices. Our own MEP, Mr. Matt Carthy, has fought strongly on this point.

My message to the Commissioner today is that it would absolutely ruin Irish agriculture, particularly in the region where I come from, if there were cuts to CAP on top of Brexit. That needs to be seriously considered from the Commissioner's point of view.