Mr. Brendan Gleeson:

The Deputy also mentioned Pillar 1. The Deputy's basic proposition was that we might be putting more into the overall budget than we would be getting back. That is not true because we are a significant net beneficiary of the Common Agricultural Policy. When we put €1 into it, at the moment we get something like €1.70 back. That will diminish over time. It is not going to be possible to top up Pillar 1 but it will be possible to decide on a national contribution to Pillar 2 based on the domestic budgetary situation. There will be limits to that but there is a flexibility in the amount that can be put into Pillar 2. Co-funding for Pillar 1 has been ruled out by everybody however. At the moment everybody gets paid Pillar 1 payments on the same basis. There is a slight concern that the Single Market might be subverted a little bit if wealthy members states could top up the payments when other member states could not.