Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister pointed out in his response, the CAP will be crucial in the next number of years for farm families right across the country. The next number of weeks will be crucial politically in how the Minister addresses this matter.

There may be up to 20 member states that at this stage have indicated a willingness to increase the budget to ensure there is no cut in the CAP or other programmes. With Brexit and the resulting €3 billion hole, there is immediate pressure on the budget, even before we consider the pressure from other budget lines with requests for increased funding. Will the Minister outline those countries that are at this stage resisting an increase to the budget? It is absolutely crucial we build alliances with like-minded countries but there is a tremendous onus on the Minister to ensure he engages with those countries that are not yet favourable to increasing the budget so as to impress upon them the importance of them contributing more to Irish agriculture, especially in light of the impact of Brexit on the agriculture sector.

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