Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

This has been a very productive and interesting debate on the CAP post-2013. I thank Senators for their constructive contributions.

Before concluding the debate and responding to the comments made, I refer to a very important initiative in Irish agriculture. The Department has recently published Food Harvest 2020, an ambitious but realistic strategy for smart, green growth in the Irish agrifood sector in the next ten years. Together, agriculture, food, fisheries and forestry represent Ireland's largest indigenous industry, which sector is of vital importance to the national economy and rural society. There are notable social, economic and environmental interdependencies stretching the length and breadth of the country. The industry is responsible for 150,000 jobs and has an annual output of approximately €24 billion, with a significant export orientation running into several billion euro. The Food Harvest 2020 report was developed as a cohesive roadmap for the industry in order to build capacity, adapt to the challenge and grow in the context of emerging opportunities in the years to come.

Food Harvest 2020 is not merely a Government initiative but was developed in collaboration with the agrifood sector and its delivery will be driven by that sector. It is based on the premise of smart, green growth; smart in the sense of embracing innovation and new technologies; green in the sense of capitalising on Ireland's environmental credentials; growth in the sense of efficient and environmentally sustainable production, delivering significant growth and allowing the sector to play a key part in Ireland's economic recovery. The CAP will be a key instrument underpinning this ambition. The negotiations on the future CAP are, therefore, of great importance to the country. We are all agreed on the need for a strong and well funded EU agricultural policy in the future. There is also consensus in this House that this policy must support sustainable and competitive agriculture, notably the development of our vision for the sector as espoused in Food Harvest 2020.

Dealing first with the funding issues, there will be stiff competition on a number of fronts to ensure Ireland receives its appropriate share of the available funds. The first challenge will be to secure an acceptable EU budget and the second will be to ensure the share going to agriculture will be sufficient to provide a strong and supportive agricultural policy. The third challenge will be to ensure the share of agricultural funds going to Ireland will be adequate for our needs, as emphasised recently and referred to by Senator Twomey. One of our priorities in the negotiations will be to preserve the Irish national envelope.

Our primary aim is to secure a direct payment system that will provide our fair share of funding and which will support the viability of Irish farming. I note the claims from some member states for a redistribution of funds. While we are prepared to consider all options, we will require partners to be equally realistic in their expectations. It is important in the negotiations that we use the most accurate basis for comparison of funding levels, that is to say, eligible area. We must also use the current distribution mechanism as our starting point. We are opposed to an EU-wide flat rate payment because farming is very different across the 27 member states. Ultimately, we want a distribution mechanism that is fair, underpins competitiveness and sustainability and takes into account the wide diversity in costs of farming across the European Union.

We favour the two pillar structure with direct payments and market support measures in pillar one and rural development measures in pillar two. A primary purpose of pillar one payments should be to support and stabilise farm income. As for direct payments, we support the continuation of direct payments decoupled from production. This model has been applied in Ireland since 2005 and allowed our farmers to respond to market signals backed by the safety net of the single farm payment. We also wish to have flexibility in the distribution of funds within member states, as is currently the case. The agri-ecological and social conditions of farming vary greatly within the European Union and Ireland needs to have the flexibility to apply the payment model that best suits our conditions. We are not asking that other member states apply our system; rather, we would like flexibility for each member state to decide the payment model that best meets its needs. We believe there are positives for Ireland in the increased emphasis on the delivery of public goods from farming and we are prepared to engage in this debate provided it does not come at the expense of the income support function of direct payments. We should not forget that EU farmers are obliged to comply with the statutory management requirements of 18 EU regulations to qualify for payment. These statutory management requirements cover the broad spectrum of animal health and welfare, respect for the environment and the sustainable management of our natural resources. These cross-compliance requirements contribute substantially to the production of public goods from farming and we should not impose additional burdens on farmers without good reason.

Several Senators referred to donning the green jersey in these CAP negotiations. I appreciate the support of the House in this respect. As the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said earlier, his intention is to continue the dialogue in consultation with both Houses of the Oireachtas, MEPs and the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food throughout the course of negotiations. On my recent visits to the European Parliament, I have seen cross-party support from our MEPs. That is welcome.

Several Senators stressed the importance of a cap in ensuring security of food supply and its contribution to ensuring food is produced to high quality and standards. The Minister indicated these objectives are high on our list of priorities in the negotiations. We must ensure any imports to the EU meet the same high standards.

Senator McFadden referred to the need for greater simplification in the new CAP. Ireland wants a policy that is simple to understand, administer and operate. This was one of the issues discussed at a meeting between the Minister and his German counterpart. Both Ministers agreed to meet in the coming weeks to propose a series of simplification initiatives for the current CAP with a view to submitting them to the Commission before the end of the year.

Senator Bradford mentioned the need for adequate transition periods for changes to the CAP and highlighted the need to cater for new entrants. We have taken the Senator's comments on board.

Senator Doherty referred to the benefits of North-South co-operation. There will be a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council tomorrow and one of the main topics of discussion will be the CAP after 2013. I will meet Michelle Gildernew tomorrow evening to discuss fisheries.

We favour the continuation of market support measures at safety net level, together with some flexibility to adapt or enhance them as the need arises. Over two years ago, when the CAP health check negotiations were in train, Ireland was in a minority of member states calling for these measures to be preserved. In light of the crisis in the dairy market in 2009, I am pleased to say the value of these mechanisms carries far more support in the Agriculture Council. There is general recognition that market supports such as intervention and private storage aid play an important role in stabilising the market and should continue. We must examine the additional measures to address the much increased volatility of markets. This view is widely shared among EU agriculture ministers.

As for rural development, we must focus on the twin goals of competitiveness and sustainability. Measures directed at investment and which promote competitiveness will perform a key role in encouraging efficiency and innovation in farming. They should be maintained and enhanced in order that farmers can improve their performance and deal with structural issues arising from, for example, the ending of the milk quota.

Consistent with green growth objectives, we must have strong agri-environment actions in our rural development policy, including targeted developments for public goods, support for the development of bioenergy on farms and for innovative actions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Our off-farm rural development actions should be consistent with this while focusing on genuinely rural areas and emphasising job creation. Looking to the CAP of the future, we must ensure it supports farm incomes and addresses the issue of price and income volatility while avoiding market distortions. We must encourage competitiveness and innovation through appropriate measures, including support for farm investments and the promotion of sustainability in all its dimensions in order that farmers are rewarded for the public goods they produce. By doing this, we will ensure the CAP delivers a secure supply of quality food to consumers and decent incomes to farmers while protecting and enhancing the natural environment.