Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I refer to my earlier response that this is still our position. Our view is that now more than ever we have additional areas of concern we need to respond to. Our initial view was always that, while the EU is getting smaller, it should not have a smaller budget because our challenges are expanding. The coronavirus has added to that so our view remains the same. We should increase our overall budget. We have seen how we have benefited from our membership of the EU in the funding we have received back. We have also seen how we have benefited from our membership of the Single Market. There was a question earlier on what the Taoiseach means when he talks about going back to a fully functioning Single Market. The Single Market is integral to the free movement of our goods and people and to the functioning of our economies. It is important that we protect it and that as we work through this crisis, the Single Market, which is still not complete and requires much work in the areas of goods, services and the digital single market, we continue our work and use it. As we develop in these areas, we must adapt to the situation we find ourselves in and that particularly applies to the digital single market. To answer the Deputy's question, we still feel we should pay more but, at the same time, we are not willing to pay more if priorities such as CAP, cohesion funding and investment in research and innovation are not protected.

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