Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Commissioner and his colleagues. I thank him for taking the time to meet both committees. I acknowledge the importance from a national point of view of having him in the role of Agriculture Commissioner. I also acknowledge the work he is doing in regard to putting the next CAP programme together, which by and large is amenable to Irish national interests and will be welcomed by countries across Europe in terms of its structure. The Commissioner mentioned subsidiarity and returning more power to the individual member states to frame CAP in a way that suits them, moving from a rules-based CAP to an outputs-based CAP and ensuring there is flexibility within that. Those are all welcome.

Of course, the overarching issue is going to be that of the budget. I know the Commissioner has been very clear on that in his comments. We have to look at this against a backdrop where, in the past ten years, there has been a 20% drop in the income coming to Irish farmers from CAP.

It was €1.8 billion in 2007 but it is €1.48 billion now. It is crucial that a line be drawn under the matter and that those reductions be stopped. I do not believe any reduction in the next CAP will be acceptable. Instead, we should acknowledge that CAP is a key part of ensuring that quality food of the highest standard is produced. That should be acknowledged at EU level in the context of keeping the budget intact. I know there are challenges but we are certainly depending on the Commissioner to drive this home. Could he update us about the potential for getting the relevant member states on board with regard to agreeing to contribute more? I think up to 1.3% of GNI would be required. Every effort needs to be made in respect of this.

I welcome the €60,000 cap outlined in the draft communiqué. This is something Fianna Fáil has pushed for and it is a welcome move on the part of the Commissioner. I certainly hope the Government will back him up on that because he will need support at European level over the coming period.

I would be interested in hearing the Commissioner's perspective on the recent comments of the UK Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis. The Commissioner has been frank up to now regarding the position of the UK. It appears that the British Government is still living in dreamland in the context of its approach to Brexit.

On our preparedness for Brexit, in the context of agriculture, I do not believe we are fully on top of the issues. There is a role to be played by the European Commission in supporting Irish agriculture to prepare for it. I would be interested in hearing what engagement the Commissioner has had with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on that and whether it has any asks of the Commissioner in terms of support for what it is doing.

What is the Commissioner's position with regard to current negotiations on the Mercosur trade deal? I emphasise that this proceeding is totally against the interests of farmers, particularly those in the beef sector. I have grave concern about the impact on the beef sector of the mooted increase on beef imports to 99,000 tonnes.

In the context of fodder, I acknowledge that the Commissioner has outlined clearly his understanding of the pressure farmers have been under domestically. Certainly, the response at domestic level has been in no way sufficient. From the point of view of ensuring that the structures are in place to deal with such issues in the future and adverse weather conditions in particular, what more can be done in the context of CAP with regard to putting structures in place so that we are better able to respond to such conditions as they happen instead of taking the kind of haphazard approach that, unfortunately, we have seen in recent times?