Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I am not sure I accept that fact. While the European Court of Auditors criticised the Commission for not using up-to-date information in the impact assessment exercise in the case of a number of member states, the Commission rejected that finding by indicating that the original impact assessment was followed by an updated version in 2005 and the Commission, in its response, stated:

[The reform] ... model [did] ... not require an analysis of the current profitability and prospects of every individual sugar producer in the EU. Therefore, the Commission did not consider it necessary to collect such data on productivity and efficiency for the model chosen.

Whatever about a theoretical pre-negotiation assessment of the possible impact of the reform, the fact is that Ireland brought the most up-to-date available information to the negotiating table. The reality is that the reform, as agreed, allowed for voluntary closure. As the Commission points out repeatedly in its 17 page response to the court, it was up to operators to decide whether to close processing plants and avail of the compensation package. Industry operators would have had the most up-to-date information available to them in making that decision.

Looking back at that decision and looking ahead to future conditions, we have to examine, in a very level-headed and clear fashion, what best facilitates Ireland and what is best in the agri-economic environment in terms of crops and diversification within Irish agriculture. I am not an expert on what grows best in Ireland, what gives the best return per hectare or the best crop with which to rotate. I defer to others in those decisions. There are some of the brightest and best officials within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food who make decisions that are in the best interests of Ireland. That is not to say we cannot, in the discussion of the future of Common Agricultural Policy, examine carefully again what crops we should be growing and for what we should be seeking support in the future. If sugar beet figures in that, well and good, but I am not the expert on that. I will listen carefully to the advice of the officials and I will bring this message back to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Smith.