It is important that we maximise the impact of our Presidency of the European Union next year. It is such an important event for Ireland. Perhaps the Taoiseach will provide an update on the preplanning of our Presidency. Have there been any discussions of key priorities for our Presidency, having regard to the timing of the Presidency? It will include the next round of discussions on the multi-annual financial framework, with pressures on increased spending in the areas of defence, climate and digitalisation. Can the Taoiseach provide any assurance to farmers in my constituency of Tipperary South and across Ireland that a key priority for our Presidency will be an increase in the Common Agricultural Policy budget, which works for farmers across Ireland and, more importantly, which encourages more young farmers and new entrants into the area of food production?

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The multi-annual financial framework negotiations are starting. We had a first meeting last week, which was a general tour de table type of exploratory meeting. I made it clear that Ireland was interested in protecting the common agricultural payments system and the CAP, as well as investment in the Horizon research programme, which is important. The problem will be that everybody is looking for more funding for more new initiatives. Defence is looming now as an issue that people want to have some provision inserted into the multi-annual financial framework for their member states to avail of. This would require alternative revenue sources. The Commission is looking at own resources. We favour the GNI metric, which would mean an increased contribution from us but would be fairer and more transparent. There are two issues here. Can we increase the budget in a realistic way to accommodate the increased needs? The CAP is important to us, as is food production more generally.

The world waits with bated breath to see what the announcements from Washington will be. Workers and families across the State and in my constituency of Waterford are anxious. They are wondering about their jobs and the impact of these tariffs on the wider economy, particularly the pharma sector. The pharma sector is incredibly important in Waterford city and county and across the wider south east. We have the likes of Haleon in Dungarvan, Pinewood Healthcare and JB Pharmatron. Many companies and firms are directly involved in pharma and many more work in the wider orbit. What is the Government's plan for the pharma sector? Waterford has been left behind when it comes to job creation, investment in infrastructure and efforts to diversify the economy. There is a very strong feeling that Waterford has been left behind in the wider south east and that is borne out by the facts. What is the plan? What can the Taoiseach say to reassure families and workers? What is the strategy?

I will have to counter and say there has been significant investment in Waterford in recent times, particularly the €170 million north quays project. As the Deputy said, Waterford has been a good and attractive location for foreign direct investment companies, especially American multinationals in the pharmaceutical sector. The objective is to protect as many jobs as we possibly can and to work both with the European Union and bilaterally with the US, and also with multinational companies, to get the best strategy to protect those companies to keep them in Ireland and to continue to export to the European and Asian markets. Those companies have done very well in Europe because of their base in Ireland and our strong workforce with high-quality skill sets that are not easily replaceable, certainly not in the short term. We want to do everything possible to protect pharma as best we can.

We are not starting these tariffs. The US has decided to go down this road.