Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Muirí very much for raising this issue. He is right; the rationale, for better or worse, is around state aid rules. They are intended to ensure that subsidies provided by member states operate in accordance with the same basic rule book and, in the context, grants provided under the Common Agricultural Policy are intended to support farming activity. There is a view as to whether this ends up being a double investment. If we come up from the weeds, though, the broader point the Deputy is making is right. There is a climate emergency - of that there is no doubt - and we need to be coming forward with practical ways to help people, particularly farmers, who are well up for this by the way, to make a positive difference. I will certainly engage with my colleague, the Minister for agriculture, and more broadly with European colleagues on this issue.

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