Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The mid-term review is not a capital review; it is a review across the EU budget and it is quite narrow in relation to the items it identifies. We fought hard at the start, when the multi-annual financial framework was negotiated and published, to make sure we could push it to be as high as it could possibly be. We were one of the countries pushing for a higher CAP budget. There was lots of downward pressure on it and we were advocating and pushing to try to get it higher. There is no doubt there has been pressure on the CAP budget at European level over subsequent CAP negotiations. That is something we have continuously resisted. My sense of it is that if we were to reopen the multi-annual financial framework in relation to CAP in particular, I would not see that as being to our benefit, because there would be lots of pressure on to use that funding for other things rather than to put more into it. That was our experience when it was negotiated the first time, when we pushed back very hard. I want to see that CAP budget protected and increased. We have worked here at national level, where we have the full competency. We are one of 27 member states and we have to fight with all of them at European level, but at national level we have delivered a 50% increase in funding to CAP-----

See this speech in context