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

I would not accept that thesis. Perhaps the Deputy has not noticed, but we now have 28 member states in the European Union and they all have different priorities. In order to get an agreement on the CAP, we had to take account of many of those priorities. What is different about the CAP is that member states have flexibility to design for themselves rural development programmes and take an approach to the CAP that suits their levels of ambition to support the agrifood sector in their countries. We intend on being very ambitious for our rural development programme in Ireland, while at the same time recognising that we have significant budgetary constraints, particularly in 2015 and 2016. My job is to maximise the potential and the spend, within reason, for an ambitious rural development programme that can help us to deliver on the potential of Food Harvest 2020, and to support farmers who do not have the capacity to benefit from that plan, due to the conditions under which they are farming, and so on. We will do that and within the next ten days, as long as we can agreement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform - I am hopeful that we will - the Deputy will see the figures and be able to debate them.

See this speech in context