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

This is the level playing field question, which is a fair one to ask. We require farmers in the European Union to produce food under very tight regulation. As a result, we also pay them for that through the CAP in the form of direct payments. That is the deal. European farmers have to produce food to a very high standard in terms of traceability, husbandry, controls, inspection and so on and taxpayers have to pay for that. However, we also need to ensure that if we are importing food from other parts of the world that we insist on the same standards in order to protect consumers. That is what they demand and that should be central to our negotiations concerning food, which is very different from other products such as cars, services and so on. When one is dealing with food, one is dealing with issues such as food safety, animal husbandry, genetic modification, hormone usage and so on. In Ireland we have always insisted on a level playing field. We think that our industry can compete with anyone in the world, as long as the same standards apply here as elsewhere. That is very much part of the negotiations.

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