Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome the Commissioner this morning. I commend him on his work as EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. He has instigated, in particular, the simplification of the CAP programme. Farm organisations and farmers welcome that. It is a challenging time. However, it is also a time of opportunity in Europe. I am sure it is an exciting time to be there as European Commissioner, particularly in light of Brexit and the increased workload that has brought about.

I listened to and was intrigued by the Commissioner's contribution. It encapsulates everything that is important about Europe and also provides us with the opportunity that we need to reflect on why Europe was created in the first place.It was created to bring about peace, stability and co-operation, not necessarily to move away from the nation state but to encourage states to work together. Certain segments of communities in Britain, particularly in the working class areas, have forgotten that.

I agree with the Commissioner on the fake news issue. It was fake news - propaganda - that sold the entire equation. People told blatant lies and then people voted to leave the European Union. There is a volume of work to be done at European level to counteract that fake news and those arguments. The evolution of the social media sites - Facebook and others - has brought that into stark reality, particularly in recent weeks.

The Brexit storm has huge consequences for this island. I agree wholeheartedly with my colleague, Senator Paul Daly, on the consequences for trade and agrifood, which is in the Commissioner's area of responsibility. It will have profound consequences for Ireland, and one of the challenging issues the Commissioner will have to deal with is the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, after 2020 and the availability of funds to meet the demand.

With Britain leaving, the Farm Europe organisation has compiled economic data which shows that the CAP budget will be down in the region of €2.7 billion, the overall budget being approximately €12 billion. It has done modelling to show that would have implications for countries like Ireland if it was left at that. The budget could be down in the region of 4% on the overall CAP budget and if all of that was front-loaded into Pillar 1, the consequences would be even more stark.

There are major challenges ahead but challenges will always arise when the Common Agricultural Policy has to be reviewed. It is about finding manageable, workable solutions, and I am sure the Commissioner will be able to do that. I wish him well in that regard.

Never has it been more important for all political leaders here to work together in the context of Brexit. All political parties and none need to wear the green jersey on this issue and back the Government in the attempts at negotiation. There should be criticism where it is due but co-operation and collegiality is vitally important in the months ahead, particularly in the next 12 to 15 months. It is a crucial time for Ireland because the well-documented report compiled by Copenhagen Economics indicates that the consequences are very stark. Even if Britain were to opt for the customs union solution, we are looking at our GDP being impacted by a negative 3.5%; that is a conservative estimate. That will have profound consequences for some sectors in Ireland, particularly the agrifood sector. As Senator Paul Daly stated, that sector has been impacted already because of the exchange rate. That is only the start of the equation. The situation will get worse.

Sectors such as the poultry sector, for example, which accounts for over 80% of exports to Britain, could be wiped out. Will additional funding be made available out of the CAP budget to meet some of the consequences that Ireland, as a member state, faces as a result of Brexit and our over-dependence on exportation of agrifood into the British market?