Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise if some of my questions are repetitive. I congratulate the Chairman and Senator Lombard on their election to their respective roles. I also congratulate the Minister on his appointment. I am sure that this is probably a strange experience for him, as he was the lead spokesperson for the Opposition on this committee for many years. Part of the difficulty he may have is that some people might bring some of his words back to him concerning some of the issues we are dealing with.

First, however, it is important to state that it is good that this committee is up and running and that we have had the chance to put questions to the Minister in the Dáil. There has been a great lack of opportunity to scrutinise the Department since November 2019. Hopefully, we can ensure that we have a constructive dialogue.

The subject of transition payments is a major issue, as the Minister is aware, and it needs to be addressed. I do not welcome the Minister's remarks, because I do not think there was the necessary level of urgency concerning people's payments coming to an end. I am thinking of people receiving green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, payments who are now wondering if they will get those payments in the early part of next year. I also refer to the confusion around the so-called rural environment protection scheme, REPS. Will the Minister update us on that scheme? Will it be a REPS scheme in the same way as previously or will it just have the same name while being completely different and much more convoluted? In November last year, the Minister stated that it was his view that "every farmer deserves and is entitled to be in an environmental scheme at any stage. We need to get away from the pattern that involves farmers being unable to enter new schemes for gap periods of two or three years after these five-year agreements come to an end".

We need the Minister to follow through on what he said before his appointment.

Around the same time in November, he was incredibly critical of the Government's position on the Mercosur trade deal. The deal is still on the table at a time when very real threats to the agricultural sector are posed by Brexit and Covid difficulties. Will the Minister indicate what his position is now? Will he will follow through on his demand to the then Minister that he must oppose any ratification of the Mercosur trade deal? I also ask him to specify what is happening with GLAS.

When the Minister mentioned that emergency measures have been introduced under the beef finishers scheme and the storage scheme, it struck me that the one set of farmers who have had no new scheme made available to them during the Covid period are the suckler farmers, who are the ones who need it the most. Next week, the budget will be announced. The Government is in a position to announce a new suckler cow scheme under which payments would be made directly to the farmers who are most beneficial to the environment and the rural economy. Does the Minister intend to ensure the Minister for Finance outlines a generous suckler payment?

I could raise a few more issues, but I will conclude by speaking about Brexit. I am conscious of the time constraints and I hope I can get back in later. The Minister said in his opening remarks that his Department has been preparing for Brexit for over four years. On 14 January 2019, he claimed that there was an "astonishing" lack of planning for Brexit by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. When did the Department start planning adequately? Is he confident that there are plans in place to protect Irish farmers in the event of a no-deal Brexit?