The Minister knows this motion was submitted last week, before the committee's decision was made for Larry Murrin to come in. The vote on this motion will not be held until next week. There will be a full week after we hear from Larry Murrin tomorrow to digest what he says, ask further questions and deal with this issue. The Minister and his backbenchers, many of whom, including from his party, have told me privately that they are extremely unhappy with the position the Minister has taken, have a week to decide wha…

The Agri-Food Regulator has an important role in Irish agriculture. We need to restore confidence in the system because it has broken down. We still do not know the names of the three companies that imported Brazilian beef earlier this year. Has the Agri-Food Regulator told the Minister the names of these three companies? When are we going to find out? Was Dawn Foods one of these three companies? I ask because we have a situation where the head of Bord Bia is also importing Brazilian beef. He simply has to go, yet …

It is in reference to the sector in general. The farming community has lost confidence.

The confidence of the farming community has been lost.

The writing is on the wall.

Have a debate.

On the agrifood sector, the regulator has stated it does not have enough powers and resources, and this needs to be brought up to speed. As I said, confidence has been lost in the system. The Minister may say this is a pivot but it is all part of the same issue. The farming community has lost confidence in the system because it is being forced to keep standards, and it is quite welcome that they keep to the standards Bord Bia sets and the standards Europe sets in terms of food safety and all those things. They are …

It is a witch hunt against the sector. The Minister is standing over something that is totally untenable.

Absolutely.

The farming organisation did not import Brazilian beef.

Was Dawn Foods one of the companies?

All the more reason to restore confidence in the organisation.

This is all the more reason to ensure we have confidence in Bord Bia. It has done an excellent job in marketing Irish beef and Irish food around the world. We all know that and it is not in dispute. What is in dispute is that the chairperson of a board charged with marketing Irish food is importing Brazilian beef. It is untenable for him to remain in his position. Everyone knows that. The Minister is trying to suggest the that IFA is to blame. Come on. With respect, the Minister has to recognise that there is a ser…

The Minister has known me long enough to know that is not the way I do business.

The Minister has known me long enough to know that I do not engage in soundbites. I engage in genuine debate. I hope we have respect for each other in that context. The Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, is the most key element in farmers' income because it is sustainable and long-term and they know it is there. However, there is talk of cutting it by 20% to 22%. That equates to a shortfall of about €2.4 billion. What measures will be taken to restore that level of funding for farmers in the forthcoming CAP?

There was a meeting of the EU's AGRIFISH Council this week. Was progress made on additional funding at that meeting? What is happening? Farmers and people in the sector want to know where matters stand and what progress has been made. I appreciate that the Minister is saying that everything possible is being done and that he is trying to talk to people and so on but we need information and communication around this issue. Without that, farmers will naturally feel they are not being sufficiently looked after. There …

I appreciate that. The Minister also mentioned simplification. Most farmers who have been hearing about simplification for the past 40 years would almost wish that somebody would talk about complication, because it seems to be the opposite that always happens. Every time schemes are brought out, we are told there will be simplification but, in actual fact, it means more paperwork, more red tape and more measures to comply with. We need to start doing what we say. If things are to be simpler and easier for farmers t…

This question is on the bluetongue outbreak. We saw yesterday that three more farms have been found to have animals with bluetongue. It is a very serious problem and a lot of farmers are very concerned. What is missing from all of this is that we do not know what the plan is. I appreciate we will have a meeting with members of the agriculture committee in respect of this after these questions. We do not know what the plan is. We know that vaccines have been approved. Are there stocks of them? What will happen as we…

I thank the Minister and I appreciate all of the work that has been done. When I ask where it came from, there is the monitoring of the wind but we are in the winter and the weather is very cold. The likelihood of it coming from midges blown across the Irish Sea is probably minimal, I expect. How much investigation of this has been done? A lot of straw is being imported. Could the disease come with midges in the straw? These are the kinds of questions farmers ask me. People are perplexed that it is here at this tim…

I thank the Minister. I want to follow up a little on this. Obviously, these are animals that probably got infected last summer. This will concern many in the agricultural community. Does this mean there are animals on a lot of farms around the country that contracted it last summer but it was not identified, they presented no symptoms and it will only be when they go to the factory and a test is done that it will be found? This is a big concern I have learned about this morning from the Minister. I was not aware o…