Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives from the IFA and the INHFA, and I thank them for their attendance today. We have been discussing these issues since 2016, almost within a vacuum, and while we might be getting closer to D-Day, we are no wiser as to what the outcome will be. We are all aware and have hashed out and discussed at length, the issues and the problems with tariffs, so there is not much point in going there again until we know what we are talking about. Even without Brexit, we could still have a six-hour meeting today with the two organisations represented here. Many problems and issues existed pre-Brexit, particularly from the perspective of farming families trying to make an income, so we would have plenty of issues to discuss, even without Brexit. I am fearful that our eye has been taken off the ball in the sense that our focus is now 100% on Brexit, and many other issues which are affecting the sector are being neglected to an extent.

I have a few questions. There are sectors other than agriculture that are waiting on the outcome of the negotiations over the next few days, whatever that may be, and they have no idea how it is going to affect them. From the night the result of the UK Brexit referendum vote was announced, the agriculture sector, and the mushroom industry in particular, took a massive hit. The agriculture sector has an advantage in that we already know how it may be affected, regardless of whether the outcome is deal or no-deal.

Forgetting about whether or not a deal is struck, are there potential gains to be made from this situation? I would like to know what contingency plans both organisations have put in place or how they can see the sector developing to reap some of the potential benefits. Like others, I was shocked last week to learn that the humble spud was being used as a tool for leverage in the negotiations and to realise that there may be no chippers operating in Ireland if we cannot get potatoes in from England in future. Therefore, there must be potential for the re-emergence of the Irish potato sector, not necessarily on a commercial scale, as was in my younger days, when there were a few drills or a half an acre of potatoes on every farm in the country. Is there potential there, and do the organisations have contingency plans in place? Have they looked at potential benefits that might come out of this situation?

Another point that is of interest to both organisations but perhaps the INHFA to a greater extent, is that depending on how Brexit goes, the Welsh sheep might not be going to France. Is there potential there for us? Could our sheep sector be a big winner in this if we are prepared for it, have our homework done and have plans in place with the correct supports from the Government?