Speeches: 8 April 2026

These trade deals are essential for our sector in offering new and huge markets for our food and drink products, and I welcome the Commission's increase in funding in that regard from a low some years ago of £140 million to £205 billion now.

For me the best promotion is to be honest that our food is actually the best and not contradict it then by bringing in crap that is nowhere near as good.

Without doubt it is disappointing to say the least, totally and utterly wrong that the budget in real terms is being cut and in Irish terms since 1991 we're looking at nearly a 70% cut in the budget.

The protests at the moment are wrong. To prevent mobility, to prevent people from accessing livelihoods, medical appointments, disrupting day-to-day activities [...] is a wrong form of protest and is not conducive to cohesion within our society.

At the end of the day, this is the foundation of the cap, and it must remain so going forward.