Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The meeting has been convened to consider the Revised Estimate for Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which was referred by the Dáil to the committee with the instruction to report back to the Dáil not later than 19 April 2018. I welcome the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Michael Creed, and his officials and thank them for attending and for briefing the committee beforehand. As they are aware, the agriculture, food and marine sectors are in very challenging times, with numerous issues arising from Brexit, climate change, trade and, as we discussed in some detail previously and will hopefully discuss at a later stage, the Common Agricultural Policy.

In responding to these challenges, the financing and resourcing of the responses in the year ahead is very important. The committee will get to explore this today with an emphasis on a number of key issues. The activities of the Department and its agencies include: supporting and protecting animal health; supporting the farming and forestry sectors; finding new markets for Irish products; mitigating the impact of Brexit; ensuring a robust and well resourced seafood sector.

We will deal with Vote 30 on a programme by programme basis. The Minister will make an opening statement. There are four programme areas so we will consider each programme separately with questions from members of the committee. I remind members and everybody present to ensure their mobile telephones are turned off completely. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against either a person outside the House or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. An advance briefing from the Department on the various programmes has been circulated to members and the committee secretariat.

I invite the Minister to make his opening statement. I remind the members that the Minister must leave for a Cabinet meeting at 4.45 p.m.