Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)

I welcome the release of the reform proposals yesterday. It is good to see the legal proposals finally on the table. There has been much speculation and anticipation over the past 12 months and people are glad to see the shadow-boxing over and know the real negotiations will now take place. I wish the Minister, Deputy Coveney, well. We have great faith in our fellow Cork colleague and as a former farmer, he is due great credit for how he has handled his Ministry to date.

We have 16 months or so of long, tough negotiation ahead. One issue we should touch on is that our changed position within Europe should confer on us a greater negotiation position. I would not like to have seen any Minister go to conduct these negotiations 12 months ago. I am going to Brussels on Monday to speak to a group of parliamentarians from the 27 member states on how Ireland as a country has been the shining example of how to manage its way out of the EU-IMF programme. This demonstrates that, once again, Irish Ministers are going to Europe with the respect of our European colleagues. We must emphasise the grave importance for our nation that agriculture and food production remain key parts of our economy. That message should have a favourable ear.

It is vital that we protect our budget allocation and I welcome the fact that the current proposals will only see a 1.5% reduction in that. This is good news, but this must be maintained through the negotiations. I support Deputy Doyle on the importance of the flexibility we will have in the future. However, I have some concerns. I am concerned by the idea of a flat-based payment. Ireland should oppose this because the most productive farmers would lose out to those who are less efficient, which would be unwelcome. I have spoken of another concern previously. When I was studying economics in UCC in the 1990s, one of the units on my course was agricultural economics. A concept that has stuck with me since then is the issue of food security within Europe and I remember my lecturer suggesting that this would be a major issue for Europeans within the lifetime of the students in that class. Here we are, with the EU not coming to terms with the issue for all European citizens. As a Continent and as a people, we must address this issue.

Ireland is perhaps one of the best placed nations to look towards allowing a Continent that has focused on energy security and military security to consider its most fundamental and basic need, the ability to feed its own people. I urge the Minister to allow for the potential to rebuild relationships with countries such as France. Our relationship with France has been terse in recent times but I believe France shares many of our ambitions in this regard.

We all welcome the positive measures for young farmers. Young people across all walks of life are the future and the age profile of farmers is something we must correct. Farming is a wonderful career with an optimistic future if we can secure a good deal over the next few years. The proposals to support young farmers have been driven by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Coveney, and are welcome.

There is a requirement to wrap the green flag around ourselves in respect of these negotiations. The Opposition Members who spoke were productive in their comments. The Fine Gael committee met for seven hours over the past number of days and has done great work under the chairmanship of Deputy Martin Heydon. The interest of the party and that of our colleagues in Government, the Labour Party, is to secure the best possible deal. It is important that representative bodies continue to be as productive as they have been and that we work together to secure a deal in the best interests of our country and our farming and food production sector.

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