Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

These are fair questions, but it is important we do not run before we can walk. The first thing we must do is ensure Ireland either has a quota or can produce sugar in the absence of EU quotas. At present we can do neither. After I came back from the Council of Ministers having sought agreement on the CAP, I said sugar production was the most difficult issue on which to get agreement for 2017. There is major pressure in respect of production in 2019 and 2020. People want to extend the sugar quota regime because many countries' industries make a lot of money from it. We will try to hold to the Council position as best we can as the Parliament seeks to push the date back to 2020. We will know by the end of June the final outcome of the negotiations. However, I encourage caution. There should be no decisions made on planting sugar beet crops or other investments until we know when Ireland will have the capacity to produce sugar again and when the sugar regime is likely to end.

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