Victor Boyhan (Independent)

I congratulate Deputy Moynihan on his appointment. It is great to see the new, diverse team, including women, sitting around these tables. This is something I have long advocated. There is no difference between a Senator and a TD at this committee, which is really important. We are all equals here and there is no priority or hierarchy. We are here in our own right to participate.

I want to touch on a few issues. I have been a member of the agriculture committee for the past five years and have been in the Seanad for ten. I was elected to the agriculture panel. I always make the point that we tend to be in a bit of a bubble here. I always say to people when we engage that we have a strong opportunity here to cover the Department and hold to account the Minister for agriculture and food and his three Ministers of State in a public forum. I always say to people here when I make my contributions that I am more interested in talking to the camera, which brings the message outside the Houses. We will make the edge if we can communicate with, advocate for and represent the farming community and rural community. Every one of us can say that when we leave here, we get calls and emails within ten minutes. I hope we will give equal measure to forestry, horticulture and education and training and that the focus will not be on agriculture alone. We have huge challenges in terms of the EU, including a new CAP, and the threats of tariffs coming from America.

I have one ask of the Cathaoirleach, namely that we bring the work of this committee around the country and meet and engage with rural and farming communities and food producers, because this is really important. We did a limited amount of this during the term of the previous committee, but we have potential to do more.

My final request is that we reach out in partnership with agri-media and agri-news. They cover a story too. Journalists also have a role, which is to communicate the messages, be they political or agricultural, to those outside the Houses.

Be it Agriland, the Irish Farmers' Journalor provincial papers, we need to build on that and we need to build on our own internal communications within this committee and the Oireachtas. I am a great believer in getting the messages out of here and I ask that we keep the focus, and possibly have a private session sometime in the next few months where we invite the agri-media in to a briefing to ask how we can partner with it, and how we can get our messages right across this country.

I wish the Cathaoirleach well. These are exciting times for all of us, particularly the Cathaoirleach, and I wish him all the very best with it.