Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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517. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has met with farming organisations regarding the impact of Brexit along the Border; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21499/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I am acutely aware of the potential risks and challenges that Brexit poses for the Irish agri-food sector, and particularly for farming and agri businesses along the border.

Close consultations have been ongoing with all of the relevant stakeholders since early 2016, considerably in advance of the UK referendum which gave rise to the decision to leave the EU. I and my officials have engaged at political and official levels with representative organisations, businesses, and with UK, Northern Ireland and EU Member State counterparts, in order to both fully understand and to communicate the potential implications of Brexit, as well as the most appropriate industry and government responses. An important element of that process has been the Northern Ireland dimension, and the particular issues to be dealt with in a border context.

In addition to the separate and ongoing contacts with the IFA, ICMSA, ICSA and Macra na Feirme, all of these organisations are members of the Stakeholders Consultative Committee that I established last year to exchange views and experiences on the implications of Brexit. The impact of Brexit on border areas is regularly discussed during these consultations. In addition, these organisations and their Northern Ireland counterparts have participated in the series of agri-food sectoral dialogues that I have hosted under the All Island Civic Dialogue process, specifically to look at North-South issues and areas of common interest that arise in this context.

I am of course fully aware that the implications of Brexit for North-South trade, and for the movement of raw materials, including milk, meat and live animals, are potentially severe.  The implications for animal and plant health procedures on both sides of the border are also potentially very serious. Put quite simply, this substantial trade would be very significantly affected by the constraints of tariffs, customs controls, veterinary/phyto-sanitary certification and any deviation by the UK from EU common regulatory provisions and standards, if these were to arise.

For the record I have had the following formal meetings with farming organisations since the beginning of the year:

I met with the IFA on 22 March 2017 to discuss their Brexit Policy Paper and again on 30 March to discuss the effect of Brexit on the liquid milk market. I also accompanied the Taoiseach on 26 April when he met the IFA to discuss their Policy Paper. I spoke at their Brexit Conference in Goffs on 24 April. I also met a delegation from the ICMSA on 14 February, a delegation from the ICSA on 16 February and a delegation from Macra na Feirme on 13 April 2017.

The Government remains very focused on supporting the farming and agri-food industry through the challenges ahead. I will continue to meet the representative bodies both on their own and as part of our Stakeholder Consultative Committee process in order to exchange views and to monitor developments as the negotiations progress.