Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This time around the CAP has been a bit overshadowed by Brexit. We may not have devoted as much attention to the CAP negotiations as we should have. In the next few months, while Brexit will be critical, the CAP is of major financial importance to the economy, the agricultural industry and farmers.

I note Mr. Mulherin's comments on LEADER. At the end of 2018, only €76 million of the projected €250 million was spent, which is an exceptionally small figure. I agree with the Co-Chairman's comments. People are frustrated with LEADER and they feel it has become extremely bureaucratic. In the next round of the CAP it will need to be more streamlined and user-friendly for community groups. In my area people have definitely become very frustrated with the process. Unfortunately, some have decided it was too bureaucratic and too many obstacles were put in the way of them accessing the funding. Making LEADER more user-friendly needs to be part of this round of negotiations.

I fully agree that the climate change challenges facing us must be addressed in the CAP. The climate change targets set in Food Wise 2025 are becoming increasingly incompatible as we move forward. We need to face up to some harsh truths. We need a focus on climate change. A carrot is always better than a stick. Incentives to help us meet some of our targets and reduce our emissions must be part of the CAP this time. We have discussed it already. Food Wise 2025 needs to come under the spotlight. It is debatable whether it is realistic and whether its targets are compatible with climate change.

I fully agree with the comments on the budget. Even if we keep the budget static, in real terms its value to farmers has fallen very significantly over a number of years. The presentation was short on specific details of the incentives for young farmers. All those details will be extremely important. We see this definition of "genuine farmer" raising its head again. The last time we failed to come up with a worthwhile definition. I would be very sceptical about it being any different this time.

The Fianna Fáil Party fully supports a cap on payments. I do not think it will be very significant to the overall budget. It is essential to have a meaningful cap for the taxpayers of Europe funding the CAP. A realistic cap on payments is long overdue. We need to promote that and ensure it is in the final document when it is published. In the past, the cap on payments has often been dropped at the 11th hour and a cap with no meaningful impact put in. A meaningful cap needs to form part of this.

I look forward to more detail about the schemes to be prioritised. The UK's Brexit decision will definitely have an impact. In the next few months, we really need to engage in the finalisation of this round of CAP.