Nicky McFadden (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State. I echo many of the comments of my colleague, Senator Coffey, on the issue of good quality food, a matter close to the Minister of State's heart. CAP encourages traceability, as was evident during the time of the Brazilian beef issue when we were able to stand over the quality of our beef and poultry products.

The spend to Ireland is less than 0.5% of the EU's gross domestic product, representing €2 per Irish person. I suggest that we get excellent value for CAP. It was introduced to ensure we would never run out of food like we did after the Second World War, but we went to extremes with our butter mountains, beef mountains, etc. Our good quality food is a result of CAP. We are also sustainable in terms of climate change and the environment. I applaud farmers for buying into the notion of maintaining the countryside to its current standard.

My time is limited, but I wish to raise the issue of the historical payments to farmers in respect of animals. Will the Minister of State comment on this matter? Turbary rights are being done away with in some areas, an action that will cause considerable hardship for some farmers.

After the recent serious frost, a horticulturist I know and his friends have been devastated. Potato growers were compensated, so why not horticulturists? The man in question lost plants worth €600,000 in total. Surely there is a grant somewhere to compensate him and his colleagues. What is the difference between them and the potato growers?

Many countries have joined the EU, but we must fight and shout loudly to sustain what we have. Our farmers need us to be their representatives and to shout for them at EU level.