Common Agricultural Policy
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-29
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Martin Heydon (FG), Kildare South

I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss a matter of real substance and of real consequence for farmers for this year and from 2028 to 2034. The decisions we make this year and going into next year will be absolutely critical. I look forward to engaging with the Deputy and colleagues on the Oireachtas joint committee and to working in the very collaborative way we have done for the past year. Members on all sides of this House have delivered. While not everyone is of the same perspective regarding the approach I have taken, we have largely delivered for our agriculture sector on major matters like TB reforms and fixing issues with ACRES. I have had support from around the House in doing those things. I have also been held to account, which is only right. I have also had support on the nitrates derogation and the steps I took to defend farmers' interests by opposing the Mercosur deal. Farming is in a better place because of the work we have done together over the last year.
Nowhere will that be more important than in the context of the CAP. We will have to make loads of small decisions. Last week, we spent three and half hours in a committee meeting discussing a range of different measures and how this will turn out. At the heart of the question are the decisions that are to be made on the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, which is the overall budget for Europe. As the Deputy outlined, we do not have a sufficient amount of money ring-fenced for the CAP. It is not that the decisions we make will be academic, but they will absolutely be impacted by how big a slice of the cake the agriculture sector gets. If the CAP gets less, that will be a major issue.
I have raised this consistently at every meeting of the AGRIFISH Council. Commissioner Hansen wants the same thing as us. He wants more funding in that area. I said last summer that the 80% that has been ring-fenced is a starting point we can build on. There is also a proposal regarding a national regional partnership plans structure. As I again raised in Brussels last Monday, some of the constraints within that structure are concerning. The percentage for social cohesion could impact our ability to use that mechanism with absolute flexibility. There is also the question of how the rural clause 10% will be used in the end. These are key decisions that have not yet been made. With regard to the overall amount of money, we need a CAP that is sufficiently funded.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-29