Mr. Oisín Coghlan:

As the Deputy knows, the multilateral financial framework discussions are to begin very shortly. The Commission is due to come out with its proposals in the next month. It looks like there will be a strong contestation between what seems to be, if not a consensus, a powerful political drive to increase defence spending and what that means for the established pillars of activity, action and spending for the European Union. That circle has to be squared either by raising taxes, or at least raising the revenue the European Union is spending through whatever means, debt or taxes in this case, or cutting elsewhere. We are not in favour of cutting spending on social cohesion or indeed on agricultural sustainability in all senses of the word: economic, social and environmental. That will be a key issue that will start this July, but will absolutely be front and centre by the time Ireland takes the Presidency.

As the Deputy knows, the Presidency is a convening and neutral role. We are a civil society and particularly from the environmental pillar, the cap is central to achieving both food security and sustainability. The cap could do much more for sustainability and nature. However, the risk is that the environmental schemes will be lopped off, and only the core payments will remain with no environmental conditionalities or dimensions to them. That is a risk, as equally, the cohesion payments are a risk. Maintaining that core purpose of the spending for those programmes will be really important as the MFF plays out. We also need to have the funding, for example, for the nature restoration law that was recently passed. That may be raised at national level. Ireland played a very positive role in that law. To abandon it to wither on the vine as soon as it is passed would be very short-sighted.