Mr. Pat McCormack:

To answer Deputy Martin Browne’s remarks, we are indeed asked to do more. Unfortunately, we are asked to do more for less. It comes to Mr. Cullinan’s and Deputy Carthy’s earlier point, the overall budget is the issue. If the budget was substantially increased, maybe we would be in a position to deliver in an economically sustainable way. We need ask ourselves the questions in respect of prices and price recovery and, from being involved with the European Milk Board, EMB, on the cost recovery pricing model, the French have done significantly more in that regard and we need to look at that French model as we move forward. I always say it is nothing short of hypothetical to talk about doing trade deals with non-environmentally conscious countries and nations. The Mercosur trade deal and any potential from a European point of view to execute that trade deal is nothing other than talking from the two sides of the mouth. We all have an obligation and a duty as the CAP talks continue. There will be national discretion to put in place a model and a funding mechanism to support the family farm model as we know it today. Ultimately, it will support and drive rural economies across rural villages and towns. What happens arising from this CAP reform will dictate where agriculture will be when we hit the next decade starting in 2030.