Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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On behalf of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine, I welcome the Minister, Deputy Bruton. As with the other committees, the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine has been closely following developments in the ongoing TTIP negotiation process.

Last month we had a briefing from officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine on the six monthly report. It included an exchange with them on TTIP. In May I attended the meeting the Minister chaired in the European Commission buildings in Dublin where various stakeholders outlined their views, including representatives from the farming organisations, IBEC and the trade unions as well as members of the EU trade negotiators team and the chief American negotiator, Ms Elaine O'Brien.

Much of what was outlined today was outlined that day. Those in the Irish farming sector naturally have some concerns and need reassurances that hormone-treated beef will not flood into the European market and distort it. As the Minister said, the beef sector may need to adopt a defensive position. It may come down to a certain choice of cuts from the US that will enter the EU very selectively.

The other issue is the potential expansion of genetically modified organism products into Europe under TTIP. This is an area we have been following closely. Last week the committee sent a political contribution to the European Commission outlining our views on the issues of GMOs with regard to the autonomy of individual states to reject certain GMOs.

With the abolition of milk quotas at the end of March, TTIP offers the potential for Irish dairy farmers to increase production if the US market opens up. Mindful of the nature and scale of the increase, however, the committee produced a report, entitled Managing Volatility in the Dairy Industry. We advocated a cautious approach in the area of dairy expansion. I believe we said everyone should get better before they get bigger initially, which is a very simple strapline.

We are aware that TTIP is in its early stages and that this is a complex process. We look forward to hearing the Minister's views on the agricultural areas that may be affected.

What does the Minister expect the total impact of TTIP on the beef industry to be? We are aware that we may need to adopt a defensive strategy should US beef enter the EU market.

I ask the Minister to outline the potential impact of TTIP on the dairy industry. We are aware the dairy sector may present opportunities for Irish dairy producers to sell their produce. The Minister spoke about sustainable development and climate change. The Irish production system is probably one of the most efficient in the world for producing food from an environmental perspective. We have one argument to get over with the EU first. Following that, the potential in Ireland should not be constrained simply to achieve a statistical figure on percentage of output.