3. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on CAP negotiations and specifically in relation to coupled payments and the future of entitlements. [52240/26]
Sentiment score: 0.00
I want to find out what is happening in regard to CAP. We want to see if there is any progress in relation to the proposed budget and retaining the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 structure which has served Ireland well up to now. During Ireland's Presidency, how much progress can we realistically make towards securing a full and proper budget which will sustain Irish farmers and European agriculture?
Sentiment score: 0.45
I appreciate that but negotiations can only get you so far when you do not have the budget. We need to secure the budget and that is why I want to focus on that more than anything. Over six months of the Presidency, we need to secure that and get agreement on an increased budget. A decrease of approximately 20% will be devastating for Irish agriculture and for many sectors. I am thinking of the suckler sector in my area, which really depends on these funds. If these funds are cut, it will have a detrimental effect on this industry and on many other sectors across agriculture. What we need to get down to here is whether the Minister is saying to me that we will have an increase in the budget and that Ireland will be able to secure it in the term of the Presidency. The Minister is smiling as if I am asking whether he has a crystal ball but what we need to know is how determined we are to ensure this can happen and what are the indications coming from other member states in respect of it. Is the Minister up against it or is there openness to trying to progress an increased budget for CAP?
Sentiment score: 0.30
I appreciate that and food security is certainly central to this. Every time somebody from the European Commission speaks, they talk about security but as we know with the various conflicts, and we have seen what is happening again in Iran, primary to security in Europe will be food security. We need to focus on ensuring we keep our agricultural sector vibrant and producing. If we do not do so, we will have a food security problem. To go back to the other issues with the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 structure, and the possibility of more coupling and what sectors this may impact, where does the Minister feel this will move? In what direction are we moving?
Sentiment score: 0.32
5. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has engaged with the board of Bord Bia in relation to the report on the review of governance procedures at Bord Bia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52241/26]
Sentiment score: 0.14
What engagement has the Minister had with Bord Bia in relation to the report on the review of governance procedures in that organisation? Farmers and farmer organisations are still saying very clearly that this report is not adequate, that farmers do not have confidence in the chair of Bord Bia and that as long as he remains there, they will find it very difficult to have confidence in Bord Bia as an organisation that implements the quality assurance scheme. How can we finally resolve this ongoing situation?
Sentiment score: 0.10
I appreciate all that and the farmers forum is a positive advancement on things, but we are back to the problem at the very core of this issue, which is that the chair of Bord Bia has been using imported beef from Brazil as part of his mix to sell product. This is at the same time that Irish farmers, Irish consumers and European consumers have serious difficulties with that product. The European Commission has gone so far as to ban the importation of Brazilian beef, notwithstanding the Mercosur trade agreement, and it did that because the product simply cannot meet the standards. That huge problem remains. The report does not deal with that, and that is the difficulty that farmers have here. The report has the 22 recommendations in regard to governance, but this is not actually about the governance. That was very clear from the beginning. The problem is that the chair of the organisation that is marketing Irish food globally is also using a product that flies in the face of the quality standards we have in Ireland and, indeed, he was not even a member of Origin Green.
Sentiment score: -0.12
Agreed.
Sentiment score: 0.27
Of course.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I am not in dispute with the Minister in that respect. Nobody is. Nobody is saying that is not the situation. The problem is that credibility and authenticity are also central to people’s confidence and the chair of Bord Bia has lost that confidence because of the situation whereby his companies are not part of Origin Green, a programme that the board he chairs was saying all companies that produce food in Ireland should be part of. It is part of the system we are trying to put in place, yet his company was not part of it. Furthermore, his company was using beef imported from Brazil, which the European Commission is now saying will not even be allowed into Europe from 1 September. The argument that the chair had was that he could not market his product if he did not use Brazilian beef. Now he will not be able to use Brazilian beef because it is going to be banned. What is going to do now, not market any of the product? Nobody believed that story, and that is the problem. It is about the authenticity of the person at the head of Bord Bia. It is not about the work that Bord Bia does, and the more the Minister keeps referring to the work Bord Bia does, how it is managing, how it is working and the good work it is doing for Irish farmers and Irish agriculture, the more he is avoiding the central point.
Sentiment score: -0.01
You are.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Deal with the point I made.
Sentiment score: 0.00
The report did not look at what it was meant to look at.
Sentiment score: 0.00
So, the confidence of farmers does not matter.
Sentiment score: 0.54