Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

The Common Agricultural Policy health check dossier was presented to Ministers at the informal Council meeting that was held in May. A full first round examination of the text of the dossier has been completed by the working groups. Most of the technical and linguistic issues have been addressed. Trilateral meetings took place at the meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 29 and 30 September to identify three main priorities for each member state. It is intended that the debate on the political issues will commence in October, at the special committee on agriculture and at a series of high-level working groups. Further trilateral discussions took place at a meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on Monday night and Tuesday morning of this week. The discussions aimed to further refine the outstanding political issues. The negotiations are entering a decisive phase. The French Presidency remains confident that the proposals will be adopted as a package at the November meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. The health check proposals, which have been described as a fine tuning of the 2003 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, concentrate on three areas. The implementation of the single payment scheme is being reviewed. Various market management measures, including the milk quota regime, are also being reviewed. The Union is working on its response to the new challenges of climate change, bioenergy, water management and biodiversity.

The impact of this package of measures on Irish agriculture will depend on what is agreed at the end of the negotiations. During that process, I will try to achieve the best possible outcome for Ireland and for our agriculture sector. I outlined the issues which are of concern to Ireland to the Commissioner, Ms Fischer-Boel, the French Presidency, Commission officials and to my colleagues in other member states. I will continue to take an active role in the discussions at every opportunity and to reiterate our priorities.

During the meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on Tuesday of this week, I had a productive and constructive private meeting with the Commissioner, Ms Fischer-Boel, and the President of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, Mr. Barnier. We discussed Ireland's main priorities during the Common Agricultural Policy health check. I explained that my key concerns pertain to milk quotas and additional modulation. I stressed the need for a genuine soft landing in the milk sector when milk quotas come to an end. A predictable set of steps will have to be followed at that stage to allow farmers, and the industry as a whole, to plan for the future. I emphasised the need for progressive quota increases. I specifically requested that additional quota allocations for Ireland be front-loaded, in light of Ireland's capacity to increase production progressively. I asked the Commissioner to make adjustments to the butter fat calculations to facilitate the release of higher levels of quota in 2009.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

I outlined to the Commissioner my opposition to the substantial increase in modulation that is proposed. I sought an increase in available EU funding for special sectoral measures to assist farmers. Many member states, including Ireland, cannot fully utilise the funding allocated for the single farm payment scheme because of the complex and restrictive rules governing it. Therefore, I am seeking greater national discretion in the use of these funds. If agreed, this would release these unspent funds, in effect, and provide additional money for necessary measures to assist farmers. A consultative process with key stakeholders was established to advise on the main issues arising in the health check. The output from this will feed into Ireland's position in the negotiations.

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