Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)

It absolutely is. We know how well Irish agriculture has been served down through the years and through successive CAPS and the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 structure. I have grave concerns around any attempt to change that. Not only do I have concerns for the impact on farming, which is why I will fight so hard to articulate the Irish position very clearly, but I also have concerns about the impact on the Single Market. If we go into national policies where everything is in there together, countries will very much go back to doing what they are doing alone. While there has been a lot of frustration with some elements of the CAP, and some very valid points have been raised here, the CAP has served us well in many other respects in terms of delivery. The point around the broader overall envelope and how much money there is to do this ultimately comes down to the appetite of member states. If there is an increased ambition in defence and other areas, is the appetite there for member states to ask their citizens to pay more to be a part of Europe? It is very difficult to see how all of the additional ambition can be delivered in a meaningful way from a pot that did not have the same level of expenditure on the likes of defence the last time. We hear of a lot of European countries with this level of ambition and this will be the kind of conversation that will have to happen across member states. They will happen at prime ministerial level as well and at the Council of Europe where they are doing that overall budget.

On Deputy Aird's final point about the focus and simplification of CAP, this really is two parts. The first part is about the budget and I am working with all colleagues across government to make sure we put our best foot forward on that one. The second is when we know the position we are in, we will continue to have that engagement across Europe but use the flexibility open to us to deliver the most focused, simplified CAP that works for our farmers and works for our agrifood industry.

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