Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Good afternoon. On behalf of the Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development, I thank the Chairman for organising and proposing this meeting and I thank the Commissioner for coming back here, our previous meeting having been postponed because of the snow. On behalf of the Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development, I welcome Commissioner Hogan and look forward to discussions on issues of rural and community development at EU level. The Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development is a new Oireachtas committee and held its first meeting on 29 November 2017. The committee shadows the Department of Community and Rural Development whose remit extends to rural development, community development and infrastructure, national broadband roll-out, administration of EU funding programmes, development of libraries, social inclusion, water safety and charity regulation.

Rural developments support the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy and my committee is very interested in several elements of this policy. The EU plans to spend nearly €100 billion on a rural development policy for the period 2014 to 2020 through the European agricultural fund for rural development. We plan to spend more than €4.02 billion of public money on a rural development programme for Ireland over the same period and €2.19 billion of this funding will be from EU sources. Given the level of expenditure involved and its importance in supporting a vital part of our economy, I welcome the opportunity today to discuss such issues as the Leader programme, CAP reform, EU trade policy and the effect of Brexit. However, the future is unknowable and unforeseen shocks to the system such as Brexit and the recent threats to international trade can undo the best laid plans.

The committee welcomes the publication of the EU Commission's communication last November on the future of food and farming, which followed a consultation on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy. In my committee's view, this will assist in getting a better understanding of where the current policy can be simplified and modernised to the benefit of all parties. This is in line with the recommendations from the special report on rural development programming of the European Court of Auditors 2017 which called for increased consistency and simplification. We welcome in particular the following proposals under the reform - to make the CAP simpler; increase subsidiarity in view to reducing the administration burden; improved co-ordination between different policies such as CAP and the rural development policy; and recognise the need for co-operation between state and local agencies to sustain rural communities.

My committee looks forward to budget proposals from the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, and the full proposals on how the goals outlined in the EU communication on the future of CAP will be achieved. It is within this context that my committee recommends promoting social inclusion, poverty reduction and economic development in rural areas, simplifying the processes to access EU funding, for example, that provided under the Leader programme, so that local groups can focus on working on the ground in rural communities, supporting rural and agricultural communities affected by Brexit. On behalf of the Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development, I would now like to put the following questions and observations to the Commissioner. The CAP has had clear successes to date and in order that it continues to do so, what greater responsibilities does he see for Ireland in meeting the objectives of a more simple and reformed policy?

How can the local-led approach of the Leader programme be improved to achieve better co-ordination and to fully realise rural potential? What impact will Brexit have on the EU budget and what is the likely outcome for rural development in Ireland? Overall, how satisfied is the Commissioner with the EU's rural development policy? I look forward to Commissioner Hogan's responses to these questions and I am sure that the other members of the Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development will also have comments and questions.