Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this opportunity to speak to the House regarding the ongoing CAP negotiations. Since 1962, the CAP has undergone several evolutions and, indeed, sometimes revolutionary changes concerning its scope and objectives. This long-standing policy began with the aim of supporting food production in Europe and I believe that aim is still every bit as valid today. The CAP has evolved since being formed and now plays a much wider role. Production supports have been replaced by decoupled payments and the introduction of cross-compliance, greening requirements and convergence have embedded environmental actions and the targeting of supports as part of the CAP. Today the CAP contributes to a broad range of objectives that are as much social as economic, but at its core remains the need to support our food producers – the farmers and their families.

We must be clear, however, that we are in the midst of another evolution of the CAP and we will see a different CAP to the one we saw before. The next CAP will have to meet challenges, namely, around having a greater climate ambition while still ensuring our world-class farmers can continue to feed the world in a safe and sustainable manner. Critically, the CAP must cater for the first principles: we need to continue to produce quality and sustainable food, for which there will be increasing demand. We must support farmers and rural communities and, while we are doing that, we also must ensure environmental sustainability. Enormous demands, therefore, are being placed on the new Common Agricultural Policy.

Ireland is the sustainable food capital of the world and we must not do anything that would stop our farmers from doing what they do best. As a country that is one of the most food-secure nations in the world, exporting 90% of all food produced, Ireland is not exporting a problem. We are exporting a solution of sustainable food production to more than 180 countries. In June 2018, the European Commission launched its proposals for the next Common Agricultural Policy with an increased focus on higher environmental and climate ambition. Ireland and Irish farmers should not be fazed by this ambition as we have led the way in our climate ambitions overall. In the last CAP programme, Ireland was second only to Finland in our environmental spending under Pillar 2, ahead of countries like France, Germany, Austria and Denmark.

An overall target of 40% of the total CAP budget will be allocated to environmental actions. The proposals also included further targeting of direct payments, with proposals for capping and redistribution measures and further internal convergence. A new governance structure of a single national CAP strategic plan and a new delivery model with a focus on outcomes and performance was also proposed. In October 2020, I, along with my European ministerial colleagues, agreed a general approach to the new CAP. It is critical to note and dispel one of the mistruths around the new CAP. It was at that meeting where we saw the overall CAP budget increased marginally. Ireland played a key role in delivering this increase and our stance on CAP has been one which has led the conversation in Europe to deliver on that. It was proposed to allocate 20% of the direct payment envelope to support the introduction of eco schemes and to include an enhanced baseline for environmental conditionality. The Council general approach also provided for broad flexibility for member states to take account of their own national circumstances.

The Council general approach supported the new governance proposals, including that the next CAP will be implemented through a new structure of a national CAP strategic plan. Each member state will have to set out an overall plan, covering all expenditure under Pillar 1 and Pillar 2. This new approach aims to support actions across both Pillars in a consistent and coherent manner, while the new delivery model focuses on assessing the impact of the substantial investment which will be made under the next CAP. The European Parliament also reached its position on the Commission's proposals in October 2020, and it has included higher targets for environmental spending, including 30% for eco schemes. It is seeking a more prescriptive approach, with less flexibility for member states. This is particularly the case regarding the redistribution of payments, where the European Parliament is seeking 100% convergence and a mandatory 12% level of redistribution.

The Portuguese Presidency aims to reach a conclusion on the Common Agricultural Policy before the end of its term and we had hoped to achieve that in May.

However, it was not possible, despite me and my European colleagues wanting to see a deal. I worked hard with them to try to achieve a deal at that last council meeting. It was disappointing that the European Parliament did not step up to the mark and genuinely engage in negotiations. That is why talks ultimately broke down. The Parliament must now front up and take these negotiations seriously.

From the beginning the new proposals have been the subject of extensive consultation and that will continue. Even before the draft regulations were published, national consultation had started in Ireland on the new CAP. Currently the CAP consultative committee, which includes broad-based representation, provides a forum for ongoing consultation and updating of stakeholders with regard to the negotiation process. My officials have undertaken modelling work on the direct payment proposals which has been provided to stakeholders and published. This work is designed to keep farmers informed at all stages of the process.

I have been always clear that I am seeking as much flexibility as possible in the final outcome. We need a CAP that will work for Ireland, our farmers and the wider agricultural sector. Some in the Dáil support the position that Europe should be setting the CAP path for Ireland but I entirely reject this approach as it does not support our farmers. What works in Malta will not work in Maam Cross and what works in Croatia will not work in Carndonagh and we cannot ignore this fact. The stance of wanting Europe to arbitrarily set the standards by which our farmers should farm is not one that will suit us best and I cannot understand why Sinn Féin, in particular, is supporting it.

When the final parameters of the regulations are agreed, we will then have certainty regarding our options. As Minister, I will engage closely with farmers and their representatives. The reality is that the next CAP will have to arrive at a balanced outcome and this will be no easy task. This can sometimes be overlooked when people focus on a particular aspect of the CAP on its own. There are nine separate objectives for the next CAP, with a tenth overarching one of agricultural knowledge and information systems. This cannot be a single issue, single focus new CAP for Ireland. We have to reach a balance that recognises the need to successfully manage the many demands on the CAP including the production of safe, high-quality food, support for farmers' livelihoods and rural communities as well as the maintenance of sustainability throughout all of these choices.

I want to assure everyone that at the heart of our considerations will be Irish farmers and farm families. As we reach the final stages of the negotiations, the issues that divide us now are the key ones to which I have already referred, namely the amount of expenditure allocated to environmental actions, the level of the baseline conditionality all farmers must comply with to receive any payments and the level and extent of redistribution. When we know what the parameters of redistribution are in the final regulations, we will have to undertake further modelling to ascertain the best choices for Ireland. The current system for payments has been in place for some time. When one makes changes to a long-standing system it is inevitable that challenging choices will have to be made. That is why I remain focused on obtaining the most national flexibility we can achieve.

I will meet again at the end of June with my European colleagues, when we will all be aiming to reach a conclusion on these issues and agree a new CAP at European level. A no-deal CAP does not bear thinking about. I continue to fight for the flexibility for Ireland to make decisions for Irish farmers and our country. I believe it is better for us if we can adapt the CAP proposals to take account of our own farming structure. As we draw up our plan, I am committed to continuing to engage with all and to consult widely and I look forward to hearing the views of Members today. Despite the next CAP looking different from its predecessors, it is my singular focus to ensure that our farmers can keep doing what they do best which is producing world-class food in a safe, traceable and sustainable manner. The CAP is crucial to our farmers and our farm families. Having been lucky enough to have been born and reared on a farm, I saw first-hand the benefit of the CAP and its impact on farm life as well as the rural economy. I understand the importance of a CAP that will serve Irish agriculture well over the next number of years.

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