Mr. Matt Carthy:

It is easier for me to answer the first part of the Senator's question. Yes, there is an appetite for a post-Brexit funding stream for counties and sectors that will suffer as a result of Brexit but it is difficult to predict how that will be formulated. I am of the view that it would be better to argue for sector-wide packages. In terms of agrifood, I met representatives of the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association in Brussels yesterday. The sector faces huge external threats as a result of Brexit. Quite a number of other sectors will also be affected. It would be much easier to seek that an EU-wide package be made available to any sector that is damaged by Brexit. Ireland relies heavily on the agrifood sector so we know that it will get more than its fair share of suffering because it will be hit harder that any other member state. We would have a stronger case if we asked for an EU-wide package rather than a package for Ireland. However, that is not to say that we should not argue for both.

Who knows exactly what goes on behind the doors of the European Council because it is a secretive body and lacks transparency. In my view, the excuse that the Irish Government did a bad thing because of another thing is overplayed. Sometimes the Government sees the Council as a handy way of getting bad things through. Permanent structured co-operation, PESCO, has been given as an example. I listened to the debates in the House during which Members claimed that the only reason Ireland signed up to PESCO was because of Brexit and the fact that we felt we owed them one. The only reason that we signed up to PESCO is because Fine Gael is committed to PESCO. That is a political argument.