Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister. I compliment the Leader on putting this format in place. Questions are preferable to people making speeches; we will learn more. Senator Ó Domhnaill raised the CAP and certain disadvantaged areas. Will it be the Minister's policy to defend the payments in those areas? In the eastern part of Ireland and even Cork, where the Minister and I are from, farmers receive larger payments. Will those payments be defended or will there be a change whereby some of them could be moved to the disadvantaged areas? The Minister referred in his statement to the 2013 to 2020 period. Agriculture is the only sector in the world that has not received an increase with inflation but the costs have increased in terms of fertiliser, fuel and other requirements. I welcome the Minister's statement that he will try to get an increase related to inflation. Perhaps he will comment on defending the payments in different areas.