Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming before us today. I will take up the last point. It is important there should be an understanding across Europe that Brexit will ultimately be a negative-sum game, probably for all of Europe and particularly for Ireland. Whether it is a hard or soft Brexit will determine how negatively it will have an impact on our economy. Either way, it will not be a positive for us in any way, shape or form. Throughout the budgetary negotiations for 2020 and beyond, there must be a focus not just on the money that will be lost from losing Britain as a contributor but also on the impact that economies like ours will suffer because we are such a close trading partner with Britain. There is a need for some budgetary steps to counteract that, whether that is in terms of the peace process or in trade in general. Our proximity to Britain will be a key consideration.

The Commissioner made a point in his opening statement, saying that losing Britain as a contributor and not having cuts is impossible. That is not the case. We have proposed that countries which contribute may contribute more. In Ireland our Taoiseach has said we are open to doing that if other countries do the same. What is the Commissioner's sense from the other countries he has visited? Is there an openness to increasing contributions in some ways? At the heart of my points today is the fact that new measures are fine but they require new money. With the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and the Irish agricultural sector, which will suffer some of the worst impacts of Brexit, there would be a double-whammy if there was an impact on trade along with a reduction in the CAP budget. Security is absolutely important for the EU but food security is also very important. Ensuring there is a good carbon footprint for the food we produce is very important.

The positive environment impacts of sustainable farming are also very important to us.