Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a significant amount of ambiguity surrounding the Fianna Fáil motion. Looking in detail at the CAP in 2015, when the decoupled payment system came in, and following through the content of the motion, a coupled based system under Pillar 1 would have significant implications for the budget and could in my view necessitate an 18% cut in the basic payment system. We need to be very careful here. We have to support the suckler sector and that is one thing the Minister is very keen on doing. The strong way to do that is through the CAP post-2020, ensuring that we negotiate strongly on behalf of the Irish Government through Europe and working with our counterparts in that. We should especially take into account the 80-20 redistribution of resources. That is a key point. At the European Parliament, the Taoiseach indicated his willingness to raise these issues and the contribution to the EU budget.

When we listen to some of the debate, it is incredible.

If we look back at what happened at some of the meetings held in Tuam in 2015, many of the Fianna Fáil representatives were castigating the beef genomics and data programme, BGDP. A few weeks later there were press releases asking for the basic payment to be doubled. Fianna Fáil was speaking out of both sides of its mouth to a significant degree. We need to be very clear. We have to encourage efficiency and good farming practices. The Minister has been very strong in ensuring farmers get the best out of their herds in order that Ireland will prosper as an agricultural nation. In terms of export earnings, there are €2.5 billion worth of beef sales. We have to work hard to ensure that figure will continues to grow. I have full confidence that the Minister and the Government will continue that work.

See this speech in context