Deputy Gould is correct. I am not one bit impressed, and the other Michael Collins would not be either. While the discussions at the General Affairs Council were not directly about the Common Agricultural Policy or the Common Fisheries Policy, they were about something just as important, the money that will be available for both from 2028 onwards. Farmers and fishing families across rural Ireland are deeply concerned that new EU priorities such as defence, migration, AI and competitiveness could end up being funded at the expense of traditional programmes that support rural and coastal communities. For many farm families, CAP payments are the difference between staying in business and walking away from the land. Likewise for our fishing communities, funding through the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, EMFAF, is essential for harbour infrastructure, fleet development, seafood processing and sustaining jobs in coastal areas. With Ireland set to play a key role in these negotiations, will the Minister of State give a clear commitment that the Government will oppose any reductions in CAP funding and will fight to protect fisheries funding? Does the Government support ring-fencing these funds so they cannot be diluted or absorbed into broader national spending priorities? Our farmers, fishers and rural communities need reassurance that they will not be asked to pay for new EU spending priorities. There is a rumour out there that in CAP negotiations the full-time farmer and the part-time farmer will be separated. The man or woman who has to go out to work every day to make a living and to keep the farm going could be degraded. Independent Ireland will fight that tooth and bloody nail if it is the case. It is time to stand up and make clear that a part-time farmer will be respected the very same as a full-time farmer. Every farmer wants to stay at home and work if they can, whether man or woman, but they are left with no choice. In relation to piers and funding, we need to find out. I have been down in Union Hall looking for funding for the past ten years. Every Minister and Taoiseach has arrived down there to promise them funding for the pier and they have never got a brown cent.

Sentiment score: 0.07