Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Apologies have been received from Deputy Fitzmaurice. Deputy Collins will substitute for him.

Before I proceed I have a few housekeeping matters to go through. In accordance with Standing Orders I wish to make the following declaration:

Dearbhaím go sollúnta go ndéanfaidh mé, go cuí agus go dílis agus a mhéid is eol agus is cumas dom, oifig Chathaoirleach an Choiste um Thalmhaíocht agus Bia a fheidhmiú gan scáth gan fabhar, na rialacha mar atá siad leagtha síos ag an Teach seo a chur i bhfeidhm go cothrom neamhchlaonta, ord a choimeád agus cearta agus pribhléidí comhaltaí a chaomhnú de réir an Bhunreachta agus na mBuan-Orduithe.

I do solemnly declare that I will duly and faithfully, and to the best of my knowledge and ability, execute the office of Cathaoirleach of the Committee on Agriculture and Food without fear or favour, apply the rules as laid down by the House in an impartial and fair manner, maintain order and uphold the rights and privileges of members in accordance with the Constitution and Standing Orders.

I remind members of the constitutional requirement that in order to participate in public meetings they must be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex. Members of the committee attending remotely must do so from within the precincts of Leinster House. This is due to the constitutional requirement that in order to participate in public meetings, members must be physically present within the confines of the place where the Parliament has chosen to sit. In this regard, I ask any member participating via Teams that, prior to making their contribution to the meeting, they confirm they are on the grounds of the Leinster House campus. I would like to remind members of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, I will direct them to discontinue their remarks and it is imperative they comply with any such direction.

Ar an gcead dul síos, fáiltím roimh na comhaltaí anseo inniu. Tá áthas orm a bheith tofa mar Chathaoirleach ar an gComhchoiste um Thalmhaíocht agus Bia. Fáiltím roimh na Baill atá anseo mar bhaill. Beidh clár gnóthach againn amach anseo. Beimid ag leagan síos an chláir níos déanaí. Tá an-chuid rudaí tábhachtach ó thaobh cúrsaí talmhaíochta. Tagraím don eitinn, don CAP nua, do chúrsaí foraoiseachta agus do go leor eile. Beimid ag lorg a leithéid a chur ar chlár ár gcoiste amach anseo.

I wish members a good afternoon. I am delighted to have been appointed as Cathaoirleach of the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food. I welcome members of the committee. We are going to be setting out a programme of work over the next while. There is such a range of issues we want to have on that clár, from TB to forestry to social farming. I will be proposing we put these on with the agreement of the committee. I am conscious members have so many issues they want to raise as well. We will do that as part of putting together the programme between now and our next meeting.

Before moving on, are there any remarks from members? I call Deputy Healy-Rae.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I congratulate Deputy Moynihan on becoming Chair of the agriculture committee.

We are actually neighbours at the county bounds. My father and the Cathaoirleach's father were special friends all their lives. I wish the Cathaoirleach the best of luck with this committee. He is well able for it. I am glad to be a member this time. The last two times, I had to wait until the end of committee meetings to contribute because I was not a member. I am glad to be a member of the agriculture committee because it is very relevant to the work I do for people. We will all work together. I know all the members and wish them all well. It is a great committee and we can do a lot for the people we represent if we work together.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Go raibh maith agat.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his appointment. There is no better person, in fairness, coming as he does from a very strong rural and farming community. I am not a member of the agriculture committee but I am replacing Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice today. I gladly sat as a member of the previous committee for four years and we achieved as much as we could. I know there are serious issues relating to TB, forestry, ACRES and derogation, and also many more that members will be dealing with adequately. I hope to fit in. I heard Deputy Healy-Rae say he was not a member on the last occasion but, by God, he was present and spoke at every meeting. He did so far more than I did although I was a member. It does not matter whether you are a member or not; you can come in here and give your views. I wish the members the very best.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I congratulate Deputy Aindrias Moynihan on his elevation as Cathaoirleach. I know he will be very fair and have the interests of all the members at heart.

As previous speakers have mentioned, there are very many issues, including the nitrates derogation, Mercosur and CAP 27. The latter is huge for us considering we will hold the Presidency of the European Council in the second half of 2026. I look forward to working with the Cathaoirleach and all the members for the betterment of agriculture in Ireland.

William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Like other speakers, I congratulate Deputy Moynihan on his appointment as Chair. I am delighted for him. This is one of the Oireachtas committees whose proceedings I used to look for. This was my number one. I am deeply involved in agriculture and look forward to all the opportunities we get to talk to the people in sectors we did not have an opportunity to ask questions of all our lives. This is the one committee whose proceedings I used to record. When I was a member of the council and not yet a member of the Dáil, I was always really interested to know what was going on at meetings of the agriculture committee. I am delighted to be present here today.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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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.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I reiterate the comments of colleagues in wishing the Cathaoirleach all the best and congratulations on his elevation to the role. I was on the agriculture committee previously. All Oireachtas committees have a job of work to do with legislation and all of that but there is also a huge job of work done in teasing out the detail, and looking at proposals coming from Government or sectors in order to identify the consequences that people might not see at first hand. What are the second and third consequences down the road? What are the unseen elements of it? It is an opportunity to do all of that and, sometimes, to hear the voices that are seldom heard and allow them a space to be heard. It is vital that we do that and do it in a fair and open way. As Senator Boyhan said, there is the fact that it is public and on the public record. That is useful.

With regard to the work we do here, sometimes whether it is in the Seanad Chamber or the Dáil Chamber, you have two minutes and you have to say a little bit, and then the Minister says a little bit and you do not get into the conversation. At the committee, you can get into the conversation and the detail, and that is vital. A small piece of advice I have is that when we set out the timeframe members will have to question witnesses when they come in, that needs to be borne in mind. There needs to be a reasonable timeframe for people to ask questions, get responses and follow up on those responses. That is what will give us the best outcome from any engagements we have with people.

As ever, the issues are well known. Agriculture is a key industry across the length and breadth of this country. The whole agrifood industry is vital but it also goes to the core of rural Ireland. Not everything in rural Ireland is about agriculture but, at the same time, it is close to it. It is there in every community and it is a part of every community. That is why it is vital that the work we do here pays dividends, that we make the right choices and decisions, that we be judicious in what we try to achieve, do it in a way that will bring the best outcome for everybody involved and try to find unanimity where we can. That is what we have always tried to do in the past and I hope we will continue to do that.

Again, I wish the Cathaoirleach well and I thank all the staff and everybody involved. This does not happen without a whole lot of people in the background who work very hard. I am sure we will all work with them equally as hard as we did before.

Paul Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Like everyone else, I wish the Cathaoirleach the very best and congratulate him on his appointment. At this stage, I am a veteran of three committees. I was on the previous two. I do not know if there is anyone else here who is going into their third term. It would be remiss of me, as a member of the last committee, to not mention the former Chairperson, Jackie Cahill. The Chair has big shoes to fill, as I would say he is well aware. Like me, he is a good friend and colleague of Jackie's. As we know, Jackie did not stand for re-election.

The one thing I would say about his stewardship, chairmanship and leadership of this committee in the previous term is that politics was very much left outside that door. We were all here for the common good of the agriculture sector and I think that came across loud and clear across all parties and none. We got into the issues and Jackie facilitated that very well as former Chair. I am not putting too much pressure on the Chair, but it is important that, as someone who was on the committee, I acknowledge the outgoing Chair. The Cathaoirleach has big shoes to fill but I have no doubt he will be able to fill them with ease.

I do not know if we will be coming around to it again but, before I finish, I have a question as a point of information, and it relates to the last committee. In the last committee, we put a big body of work into putting a report together regarding our retention of the derogation, which we intended to bring to Brussels, and then the election came. We had the report finished and signed off and I would like to know, as a point of information that the Chair can answer under any other business or whatever, whether we can revive that now or if we will have to go back to square one and start it all again. Can we carry it forward from the old committee?

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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We can do it again in the work programme. We will go through it.

Paul Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Okay.

Paraic Brady (Fine Gael)
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I, too, congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his elevation.

As everybody knows, I am deeply rooted in the agricultural sector and have been so for many years. I am passionate about food protection and protecting our farmers and rural Ireland. One thing I would like to see with this committee, and I have seen it in the past, is that we bring in people who have the skills and knowledge of certain aspects of the agricultural sector, whether it be organics, beef production, lamb production or forestry, and that we listen to people who have the expertise in these areas.

There are certain things we will agree on and there are other things that we will not agree on but at the end of the day we have been elected to do the best we can for the sector itself. That is very important here. Food and food production must be protected at all costs. In Ireland, and in our environment, we are so dependent on agriculture. It is the number one product we have here that Ireland is dependent on. Whether it is Dublin, Galway or rural Ireland, it is the one sector where everybody, whether it is the processors, the shopkeeper or the small farmer, gets money out of it. Without agriculture, this country would not exist. In the middle of the previous recession, it was agriculture that took us out of the recession, with what we produced, what we exported and all the rest.

This is the number one committee in these buildings at this moment in time as it is very important to our whole economic structure in Ireland. I look forward to working with everybody here. We have a vast amount of work to get through. There is forestry, GAEC and CAP reform. That is without even mentioning the environmental aspect. There is a huge body of work that we need to get through here. I hope we can really and truly get through it for the best of what is available to us coming from Europe.

Eileen Lynch (Fine Gael)
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As a constituency colleague, I echo the comments of my colleagues here in congratulating the Cathaoirleach on his elevation to the role and wishing him all the very best for the term ahead.

This is my first term in the Seanad. I was elected on the Agricultural Panel. I come from a farming background of a dairy and beef farm and it is something that is incredibly important to me. I am very much looking forward to this committee getting started and the body of work that we have to do for the term ahead.

There was mention of the importance of agriculture and food to our economy. It has always traditionally been part of the backbone of our economy and our country. Agriculture faces so many challenges at the moment and I stress the importance of this committee in the promotion and progression of the agricultural sector.

Natasha Newsome Drennan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I, too, congratulate the Cathaoirleach and wish him the best of luck in him role. I look forward to working with everybody.

I am from Kilkenny. We have a suckler farm at home, so lots of issues and hardships. No doubt we will be hearing plenty of them but I am looking forward to working with everybody.

Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein)
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I might as well throw myself in. I congratulate the Cathaoirleach as well.

Like my colleague across the floor, this is my first term in the Seanad. This is my first committee but I am really looking forward to getting stuck in. As my colleague, Deputy Kenny, said, agriculture is agriculture but it affects all parts of rural Ireland as well. I am really looking forward to standing up and seeing what we can do. Forestry is a huge issue in County Limerick at present. Let us see what we can do for them.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Leanaimid ar aghaidh mar sin. We can move on to ainmniúcháin don Leas-Chathaoirleach, the nominations for Leas-Chathaoirleach. As members will be aware, a committee may choose to elect a Leas-Chathaoirleach who would step in and perform duties and exercise the authority of the Cathaoirleach in his or her absence. I propose requesting nominations for the position of Leas-Chathaoirleach. Members may wish to consult with one another and send nominations to the clerk by 12 noon next Monday, 19 May. We can then consider it at our next meeting. I wish to make members aware of that. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The committee will now go into private session to deal with housekeeping matters.