Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following: “acknowledges:— the economic role of the agrifood sector and the importance of Food Harvest 2020 which is being led by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine as a strategic vision for the agrifood sector; — the increase in employment in the food and beverage manufacturing sector between 2010 and 2012 and the potential for 25,000 new direct and indirect jobs through the delivery of Food Harvest 2020 targets; — the initiatives taken by the Minister in leading several trade missions, most recently to China and the USA, to develop new markets for the Irish agrifood sector and the opening of markets in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa for Irish produce; and — the commitment of the Government to the Irish agrifood sector, evidenced by the strategic importance attached to the agrifood sector in budget 2012;recognises:— the importance of an effective and well-resourced Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, in creating sustainable development of agriculture across Europe supporting the ambitions and targets of the Irish agricultural sector; — that the amount of EU funding attributable to CAP will depend on the outcome of parallel negotiations for the new multi-annual financial framework for the EU budget from 2014 onwards; — the need for the current reform discussions to respond to future challenges for agriculture and rural areas, increasingly from external sources, so as to maintain viable food production, sustainable management of natural resources and respond to climate changes; and — the reform proposals in respect of the distribution of funds among and within member states and the need to retain levels of funding and provide maximum flexibility for member states;supports the Minister in continued strong negotiations on CAP reform in order to maintain Ireland’s direct payments and rural development at current levels as a means of best achieving Food Harvest 2020 targets; and notes:— the importance of payments to farmers under the single farm payment, the rural environment protection scheme, REPS, the agri-environment options scheme, AEOS, and the disadvantaged area scheme, DAS; — the introduction of a new €20 million AEOS scheme which will deliver an annual income in return for farming to high environmental standards; — the advance payment of the 2012 single farm payment from 16 October which will represent the early payment of some €600 million to farmers; — the payment of some €161 million to date under the DAS, benefiting close to 76,000 farmers; and — the payment of €64 million under 2011 REPS to date.”-(Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

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