Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

It has been reported that the European Commission proposed to end the two-pillar Common Agricultural Policy budget and merge it with other cohesion funds. This is very bad news. We need ring-fenced budgets for agriculture and guaranteed income streams for farmers. Small family farms are being squeezed and pushed out of business. There has, of course, been an increase in the cost of food. How has the Government allowed this Commission proposal to grow legs and gather steam?

What does it propose to do to put a stop to this?

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