Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)

I am delighted to have the opportunity to do so. The CAP is absolutely critical. I wish the Deputy well in his role as chairperson of the joint Oireachtas committee on agriculture. I look forward to working with him and his colleagues in the term ahead.

As Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I am working closely with EU institutions and my counterparts in other member states to influence negotiations on the next CAP. The CAP is central to the EU’s success in ensuring food security, supporting farm incomes and developing rural areas. The CAP also remains critical to the agrifood sector’s resilience and competitiveness, as it has since Ireland joined the EU more than 50 years ago. I recently set out my four key priorities for the CAP: a CAP that is more straightforward for farmers; a more flexible and responsive CAP; one which has an appropriate balance between all elements of sustainability; and an adequate and dedicated budget that is needed for an effective CAP. I am determined that the CAP will continue to play a positive role in supporting Irish farmers, the food industry, rural communities and the wider economy into the future.

It is a key responsibility of Government to raise Ireland's concerns with our EU partners and to influence EU policy. For my part as Minister, I meet with my counterparts in the Council of the European Union every month to discuss and shape agriculture and food policy in the EU. I have and will continue to engage with Christophe Hansen, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, and my fellow EU Ministers on the issues affecting the agrifood sector, including the CAP post 2027, at Council meetings as well as in bilateral discussions. I have my next meeting of the AGRIFISH Council next Monday in Brussels. I will prioritise these engagements at European level, particularly in preparation for Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2026.

Funding for the CAP forms part of the broader EU budget, known as the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, which is ultimately agreed by the heads of government and at European Council level. That will obviously hugely shape what comes next in terms of the CAP. We are bringing along the CAP proposals. The Commissioner is proposing to publish them around the same time in July in order that they can all be discussed and debated together.

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