Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I give a very warm welcome to Commissioner Phil Hogan and members of his cabinet, Mr. Tom Tynan and Mr. Dermot Ryan. It is a new Seanad and the Commissioner cannot say we have not had some reform, as at least we moved house from one end of the building to the other. There has been a major change but the Seanad remains very active.

I compliment the Commissioner on a very wide-ranging speech that I know will get great attention in the 27 other countries, including Britain. It is a wake-up call for the British Government, if it needed another one, to realise what is involved with Brexit. The Commissioner has been very outspoken and genuinely straightforward with his views, and I hope it has an influence. It certainly has influenced our negotiators and I hope it has had an influence on the other side as well.

One of the lessons of Brexit is the need for greater diversity in Irish exports, particularly agrifood products, which continue to have a very significant if declining dependency on the United Kingdom market. As a former trade Minister of State, I was on several trade missions with State agencies and Irish companies and I know the value of finding and opening new markets. I congratulate the Commissioner and the Commission on the successful conclusion of the new agreements on trade with Mexico last weekend. It can be added to successfully negotiated agreements with Canada, Japan and Singapore, and I note this latest agreement was welcomed by the Irish dairy and whiskey sectors. What effect will this have on beef producers here? What is the percentage of beef imports from Mexico, and could there be a detrimental effect on our exports to the European Union?

I also ask about the EU's trade agenda, particularly in the context of the United States where, increasingly, there is an isolationist or protectionist trade policy. I commend the Commissioner as I followed his progress and when the matter arose, he was immediately involved with the Irish and European industries to ensure that a reciprocal approach would be implemented. If the US decided to put a levy on our whiskey, the Commissioner would certainly have looked after Jack Daniels, bourbon and everything else, so it would have worked both ways.

The Commissioner is aware there is a fodder crisis in Ireland. Is there any emergency support from the European Union for farmers not just now but in the long term with climate change in mind? There is a crisis, to some extent, because of the abolition of the milk quota. During this crisis there have been visits to many farms by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine inspectors dealing with matters relating to the European Union and young farmers. Who gets the blame for this? It is not the Department but the Commission or the European Union. They did not send inspectors in the middle of the fodder crisis to check on whether a young farmer is fully compliant. That could have waited. The European Union is projected in a negative fashion all the time by State agencies that want to put the blame back on the Commission. I thank the Commissioner and wish him success in his continuing role. He is getting very fond of this House but I do not want him back because I want to see him reappointed as Commissioner. He is doing a tremendous job.