Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our witnesses this morning and thank Ms Brown for explaining the information on the forthcoming multi-annual financial framework. It is a significant area of responsibility. It is a huge document, which is very difficult to go through in any amount of detail in the space of a meeting. I agree there is a time for changing budgetary strategy. This is the time for the change, which had to come. I am a bit concerned about the reduction in the CAP because that affects this country more than most others. Car manufacturing and engineering is to Germany, Italy and a number of other countries what agriculture is to Ireland. Agriculture is our gold standard; it is what helped us recover when financial institutions all over Europe went down a few years ago. The agricultural sector recovered because it is self sufficient. It sources 90% of all its inputs at home, with a few exceptions, and for that reason it is important. I know from the indications already that there will be trimming of the Common Agricultural Policy at the higher levels and this is to introduce a greater degree of fairness. Generally speaking, that will be acceptable. The danger is it might set in train a theme that we might be able to survive without agriculture. We would not survive without agriculture. We must ensure agriculture throughout Europe is supported for a variety of reasons, including the environmental reasons, which we all know about; the economic reasons, which we all know about; and the need to have a major food producing sector in the community of approximately 500 million people. Any deviation from that will cause problems.

I know that in modern marketing everybody will say that one can source food elsewhere. That is the policy in the United Kingdom. It always had a cheap food policy, sourcing food anywhere. That is probably one of the reason that it wishes to move away from the European Union. I think it has made a mistake but we will have to live with it.

The next position is moving towards innovation and technology. We need to recognise in a positive way the potential for smaller countries, in particular, of innovation and technology by offering the supports that are necessary. There is no reason in the world that the European Union cannot have the most sophisticated educational and innovative systems in terms of the use of modern methods and technology to source and boost industry and to boost production. There is no reason we cannot continue in that direction into the future.

Ms Brown mentioned research which is one of the key areas we should explore and exploit to the best of our ability. We should not to be ashamed of it.

Over recent years, when many people were sceptical about our ability to survive in certain circumstances, we showed in our own modest way in our own economy that we have a major contribution to make. We proved that we were well able to survive by relying on our educational system, on research and on innovation, in conjunction with agriculture.

I am concerned that more emphasis is not being placed on the implications of the post-Brexit situation for a number of countries. I believe the island of Ireland, in particular, will suffer greatly as a result of Brexit. That does not mean we will become impoverished overnight or something like that. It means our potential may be curtailed to some extent. It will take us some time to catch up again. I am referring to this part of the island and to Northern Ireland. As we move towards the actual departure of the UK from the EU and its implications, I wonder whether it might be wise to place a greater emphasis on the supports that might be required in Border areas and in Northern Ireland as a result of what is now taking place. It may be the case that we will be able to see this much more clearly a year or two from now. Much will depend on what happens between now and 2021. If it does not work out right from our point of view, we will have a lot to lose. The EU has a great deal to lose as well. I would like to see a greater recognition of the potential danger in this area. Some provision should be made to cater for it.