Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to the representatives from the Department for the fact that I have been in and out of the meeting because of how the voting fell in the Seanad.

I thank our guests for their presentation although I did not quite catch it all because I was in and out. Could I ask the Department to come back and talk about the budget, where it is and where our guests feel the budget is going to sit? The presentation mentioned that there was originally a proposed cut to the CAP. Our guests might elaborate on where they think that actual budget is going to fit in. They might also speculate as to the impact a hard Brexit would have on the actual budget itself, where the issue of Brexit would lie and the budgetary implications for the CAP.

I also ask for comments on the deal that was finalised over the weekend. Will there now be renegotiations on the beef element of the CAP? Beef was a major part of the deal announced at the weekend. Will issues regarding beef be looked at again in the CAP to take into consideration the political agreement on Mercosur that happened over the weekend? Where do our guests think that fits into these negotiations? Will it be mentioned? Will it be a part of this? It might not be because the door might be closed.

On the issues of young farmers, genuine farmers and the eligibility of land, how close are we to finalising definitions on those three issues? How do we define what is a young farmer and where he or she fits into the education criteria? From where will the momentum come to ensure we get young people into the industry?

We might need a crystal ball for this but how can we promote, or even get a definition for, the genuine farmer? What would be appropriate for the Irish industry where we have this affiliation with land? What about the eligibility of land, which is obviously an ongoing issue? The witnesses might respond on those three issues.