Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 13 July 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs

Food Security in the European Union: European Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development

Photo of John BradyJohn Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Scannell for his very comprehensive overview and answers, which covered an awful lot of the ground that I wanted to raise. I will probably have some supplementary questions arising from some of the contributions earlier on.

In many regards, we are facing into a perfect storm with the war in Ukraine and climate change. Mr. Scannell said that supply will not be the issue and cost is, but it is very concerning to see the impact climate is having on crop production. I saw yesterday that France’s wheat production is estimated to be down 7%, with a 15% drop in crops in Romania as well. That is probably replicated in many areas. Northern Europe is probably the opposite and probably has good growth. However, there are certainly huge concerns in relation to climate and also the situation with the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We see that there are 25 million tonnes of grains essentially locked in Ukraine now.

At yesterday’s meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence we had the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, in with us. I raised the question about Odesa and the prospect of that port being reopened. I do not want to put words in his mouth, but he said he was optimistic that something might happen in the near future in terms of reopening Odesa, which will be critical.

Deputy Ó Murchú raised the issue of fertiliser, which will be an issue of concern. Mr. Scannell said we have the ability to sustain the amount of fertiliser we have over the next year or so, along with some other mitigation measures. He might be able to give us some detail of how dependent Europe is on fertiliser from Russia and Ukraine.

I also want to touch on the issue of the humanitarian crisis tragically unfolding in Africa, Afghanistan and other areas and the impact climate and the war in Ukraine will have on those very vulnerable regions. We know there was a crisis in those regions before the war in Ukraine. Donations to the World Food Programme, WFP, across all of those regions have been down consistently over the past number of years, which has put pressure on it. What analysis, if any, has been carried out on that? I have heard what he said about money coming from Europe into the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. That has to be welcomed.

What analysis has been carried out on the displacement of people in those regions? Obviously there is an issue. People in Africa are being displaced. Significant numbers of people are fleeing for their lives with their families across the Mediterranean Sea and are making their way to Europe. Some horrific measures are being taken by some European countries to stop that influx of migrants. The WFP is failing in many regards. What impact will the number of displaced people have on the broader region?

In the view of Mr. Scannell, is enough being done by the European Union to avoid humanitarian crises in those regions? I refer to the military spend by the EU to provide military assistance to Ukraine which, of course, the Ukrainian Government has asked for. I will not get into that debate. However, given the comparison between the military spend and the spend on humanitarian aid on regions that are at crisis stage, is enough being done by the European Union to give assistance to the many people who need it?

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.