Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-05 ============================================================ Paul Daly (FF), Agricultural Panel I welcome the Minister here this morning and thank him for partaking in these statements. I will not turn it into a back-slapping session but I thank and compliment him because as a colleague, he kept us very much briefed within our grouping on the progress to date and the amount of work that he personally, the Department and other Ministers have all been doing in preparation for our Presidency. It is no small undertaking. I do not think anybody would expect or think it is. When he tells us the amount of work that is happening behind the scenes, it explains in even finer detail how much is involved in this and how big an operation it will be. The Minister of State will not be surprised in any way if I mention the MFF and CAP. I know we will be in the unique position of where I think the MFF will probably be decided on for the next tranche from 2028 to 2034 during the Presidency. As the previous speaker, Senator Mullen, said, the fact you are chairing the meeting does not mean you can railroad the meeting but you certainly will have an influence. The Minister of State knows my ask by now but it is the ask of more than just me. Within the MFF, could we secure a fully funded CAP that is at least equal to what the current outgoing budget is? The proposal at the moment is for a cut of up to 20%. I know this will be in the CAP negotiations after the MFF but we would like to see the two-Pillar system remain and LEADER and rural development be included. It is the unknown unknowns, as the old political phrase goes. If we were having these conversations the previous Thursday or we were assuming the Presidency the previous Thursday, our outlook would have been a hell of a lot different on Friday with what has materialised in the Gulf and the Middle East. It is the geopolitical issues and the current geopolitical landscape that will probably determine our Presidency. In the previous 48 or 72 hours, energy - the price and cost of energy, oil and gas - has become the number one topic of conversation. It probably will be a major issue for our Presidency. It will be from July to December and we will be heading into winter. First, there was the change to the system of using Russian gas. Now, we have the issue with the Strait of Hormuz. We do not know what our energy costs or our energy security will be coming into the next winter. I am not just talking about Ireland here but as a Continent and as a Union, that is, the entire EU. That will possibly be one we have to prioritise. I would like to see an emphasis based on that scenario that we might be able to initiate a review at least if not a revocation of the carbon border adjustment mechanism, CBAM, and in particular, when it comes to fertiliser. The goal posts have moved again. I am putting on my agricultural hat but fertiliser prices will probably rocket now without any CBAM because of the energy crisis and they are a petroleum-based product. In the cases of steel and fertiliser in particular but with many other products also, we are facing a price hike because of the introduction of CBAM. Now, because of the war in the Gulf and the Middle East, the prices of those products will skyrocket anyway because of the scarcity and inability to get them into the Union. We might have to lead out on reviewing CBAM. In conclusion, I welcome the fact the Minister of State has coupled the countries with each county. I hope that can be utilised to the maximum and we bring all our delegates who will be visiting the island during the Presidency to the rural areas and the counties around the country so that this will not all have a Dublin emphasis. From an agriculture perspective again, we pride ourselves on our food exports and the quality of our food. Hopefully, we can bring the delegates who will be visiting the country for the Presidency to the source and production of those food products so we can let them see what a fine island we are and leave an impression of the quality of the product we are exporting. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-05/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-05