A delegation from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine will present two key Committee reports at high-level meetings in Brussels today with Commissioner Phil Hogan and senior European Commission Fisheries Officials. 

Tomorrow, the delegation will then travel to Luxembourg on Tuesday for meetings with the Irish Member of the European Court of Auditors Kevin Cardiff and members of the Luxembourg Parliament’s Agriculture Committee.

Committee Chairman Andrew Doyle TD is leading the delegation and is being accompanied by Deputies Eamon O Cuiv TD and Michael McNamara TD.

It is hoped the meeting will provide a valuable opportunity to feed the outcomes of the Committee’s investigations into maximising land use in EU decision-making at the highest level. Current issues facing Irish farmers will also be raised, including concerns around the implementation of CAP reform and simplification of CAP rules.

Deputy Doyle said, "Changing land use is a slow process in every country that requires early engagement because it is difficult to manage. We published our report in November 2014 determined that the voice of the Committee and of a range of stakeholders from Ireland be heard at this early stage at EU level when outcomes can more realistically be influenced. The report says that policy choices at government and farm level now will be crucial to ensuring Ireland can lead the EU-wide challenge to balance food security and climate change objectives in the coming decades. Ireland must be in a position to inform this process rather than respond to it in ten years' time so the opportunity to engage with Minister Hogan on the report’s findings is to be warmly welcomed."

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