Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct in that we want Leader funding and I want to see it maintained. He knows, however, having been around a long time himself, that if one goes to a fair, one does not put one's best bid forward first. The Government, in particular the Taoiseach, will negotiate on CAP. They will be long negotiations and we cannot show our hand until we see what the proposals are. There is a proposal on the table, but it is only that and there is a long way to go. The proposal will have to go to the Government and the European Parliament and a lot of discussion on it will take place in the next number of months. This has to be finalised by May 2019 and we will not put our hand up and say what we are going to do at national level. We have to wait and see what is agreed on the proposal put forward by Commissioner Hogan. There is a great deal of negotiating to be done between now and then and I will monitor it. I will be watching this in relation to the Leader programme and working with my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, who will be fighting to ensure that CAP funding is maintained for Ireland given the serious potential effects for farmers in rural Ireland.

See this speech in context