Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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With regard to the Brexit Adjustment Reserve, BAR, fund, of the €565 million that was available under that for 2023, €238 million of it was available for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The BAR is coming to an end this year. That is the period of eligibility that was contained in the regulation that was passed by the European Parliament, and I need to be honest and candid with the Deputy that it is not going to be changed. It will fall to the Exchequer, to me and to the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, to see if we can put in place additional measures to support Irish exports at what could be a challenging time. Irish food and our food exports have continued to flourish in the aftermath of Brexit but, of course, I am aware of the risk of cheaper food becoming available in the UK from other exporters and what that could mean for our farmers. These are matters that we will have to fund out of our own resources in conjunction with the support that we get from the Common Agricultural Policy.