During Covid, the buzzword everywhere in every country was about food security and making sure that where shortages were showing up in places, we would learn from those mistakes. Ironically enough - in my opinion, it is because of Commission pressure - over the last couple of years it is worrying to see in Holland that regarding 10% of the land where farmers were farming, they had to sign a docket. They were basically turfed out and told they cannot farm in Europe again. They had to sign that docket. It is the same this week. The European Commission is after giving Denmark the go-ahead for a €1 billion fund which will take out 9% to 10% of its lands.

In every country throughout Europe, we see the pressures on land in the line of forestry, solar and wind. Also, we see new EU regulations. We have done it in this country, where farmers have set aside 10% for nature. They did not say anything about it, may I add, and they were prepared to do it. The nature restoration law is coming in and the interpretation of it will be known in the next few months. I will not make a hasty statement one way or the other in the line of that.

Stats tell us that throughout Europe in the last 15 years we have lost 5.5 million farms. That is 5.5 million families. That is a colossal amount. There is something wrong. It is not that we are against trade deals, but there seems at the same time to be a massive push - be it New Zealand, Australia, Mercosur or CETA - to make sure we hammer these deals fairly quickly. There seems to be an agenda driven by the Commission and Ursula von der Leyen. Steel and other heavy industries have been driven out of Europe.

On the figures relating to what we have to achieve in climate, it appears farmers are the next casualties, when you look at the reasons both Denmark and Holland have decided to do what they are doing. We seem to be now more content to bring cooked, vacuum-packed chicken in from China and feed people in Europe with it than to farm the chickens in Europe. We seem to be more content to bring in beef or other products because of the methane out of cattle.

I am asking the Tánaiste - and I am also asking the Taoiseach - whether, when European leaders meet, this madness that is going on can be halted. We are taking prime land out of production in Europe and we still think of Covid and self-sufficiency. At the same time, we are going to fly it or boat it. I thought we all lived in the same world, where the cow puts up the same methane and farts the same in some other part of the world as in Europe. Why are we doing this to the farmers of Europe?

I have always admired the Deputy's bluntness. I will make a couple of points. I say this respectfully. We have to be considered in our comments around trade. The Deputy knows this and I do not need to be telling him or his constituents this but we are exporting about 90% of the agrifood we are producing in this country. We need to understand that. Again, I am not suggesting the Deputy does not, but we need to bring it into the public debate. Do we want a trade situation where we can sell our product anywhere but no one else can sell theirs here? That is not what the Deputy said but it is a natural outworking. If we want to continue to sell Irish produce across the world, as we proudly do, we need to understand that trade is two-way and that will mean continuing to engage in trade agreements.

We have to start having earlier and honest conversations with farmers It always seems the conversation with the farmer comes at the end of the trade deal and that is mistaken. I have said that to the trade Commissioner. We should be engaging much earlier with the farming community to understand and address those issues earlier. We also have to be honest. The figures have been or are about to be published. I think we made about €21 billion in agrifood exports in the last year. That is based on selling our stuff to other places. The natural outworking of that is that we need to allow people sell their stuff into the European Union. It is a two-way relationship. This country is a small, open economy that is extraordinarily reliant on trade. I still think we can do better in engaging with and addressing the views of farmers and agrifood producers earlier.

The second point I will make is on land in general. I agree with the Deputy that we cannot have a situation where the farmer is held up as the bogey-man for the climate emergency. It is not fair and it is not true. We see really good progress being made in agriculture. Instead of lecturing farmers, we have to work with them and incentivise them. We have to make sure they can continue to make a living and that we can continue to support the family farm. That brings me to things like the nature restoration law. Anything to do with that will be voluntary, voluntary, voluntary. It cannot use CAP funding, but it is up to farmers to choose whether they want to pursue it or not. We need to support our farmers. We have come through a difficult flooding situation. The Deputy is very knowledgeable on this. Things like adaptation and using State lands, in the first instance, to provide better resilience will be important to rural, and indeed urban, communities. We have to support our farmers financially in making the transitions that need to be made; support them in participating, whether in ACRES or the areas of natural constraint scheme; support them in nature, biodiversity and environment; support the forestry sector, with funding of €93 million allocated this year - an increase on last year; and work with them in partnership and recognise farming is not some sort of discretionary extra or hobby. It is the crucial backbone of the Irish indigenous economy. I do passionately believe that. We will have the Presidency in the second half of this year and we need to make sure that is reflected in the priorities of the European budget.

I never said I was totally opposed to trade deals. We have to bring in bananas and other things from some other countries. There is no one saying otherwise. The question I am asking is whether it does not sound an alarm to all European leaders. By the way, if you look at the stats for Irish exports, most of them go to Europe and the UK, especially in the line of beef. Think about if policy was right in industry and agriculture. Figures have gone up in industry and people working.

We have lost 5.5 million farms in Europe. I will give the Tánaiste an example. I spoke to a farmer from Denmark yesterday. He is an organic farmer. He is a big organic farmer in my book because he had something like over 300 cows. He is doing organic. That is the best type of farming if you want to be the perfect student in the class. However, he is being taken out. We are probably going to replace him with someone who can shove a bit of a hormone or medicine into an animal that is banned in Europe. Does that make sense? This is what I am saying. Where is the focus? Can leaders reset the agenda? Countries are under pressure because they have to hit this target. Once we hit the target, we are the best kids in the class. That is what seems to be the thing. Whatever sacrifice we have to make, if we have to be the salesperson for it, it is sound, provided we do not produce it. That is the worry I have throughout Europe.

I have enough challenges answering for the actions of the Irish Government without answering for the actions of the Danish Government. What I assure Irish farmers is that the policies being pursued by different European governments will not be reflected in the policies being pursued by the Irish Government. Anything we do in this space in relation to nature restoration will be done in partnership, in collaboration and on a voluntary basis. I want to be really clear on that. I want to reassure farmers in Ireland that it is voluntary. I also want to say to farmers as we approach the next CAP, the CAP money cannot be used for that. I think this is a European-wide issue. The loss of 5.5 million farms is a serious economic issue of concern for Europe; I agree with the Deputy. This is our indigenous industry that we should be protecting.

We have to make sure that we reduce the bureaucracy around these schemes. As I talk to farmers in Ireland, and as I hear from colleagues across the European Union, one of the reasons people opt out of schemes is they feel it is not worth their while. There is too much bureaucracy, too many checks and too much red tape. Along with making sure we get a decent sized budget the next time in terms of CAP and other supports for farmers, we also have to make sure that simplification is not just something reserved for foreign and indigenous companies but also is something that Europe applies to its farmers, including Irish farmers.