EU Budgets
Dail Éireann — 2026-10-01
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Thomas Byrne (FF), Meath East

I am glad I pushed back against the Deputy's initial question because she went on to quote from the letter. The letter also says there should be cuts across all the headings and that the member states that signed it accept an increase in the EU budget. During our Presidency, I have to represent not just this country but all the member states and what they want is a cut to the increases proposed by the European Commission. They have accepted that there will be an increase in the EU budget.
We have to balance that. We have to get agreement from every member state given that each member state has a veto on this process, not just Germany or any other country that might be mentioned. Every member state has a veto, but everyone feels the need to compromise in order to get agreement. The Deputy is right that it is in our interests to have agreement on all these things. There are people who will be waiting for funding from the MFF. The Deputy named them. They include farmers and universities. The competitiveness fund will be important for Ireland as well, and businesses will be waiting for it. Humanitarian aid organisations abroad will also be waiting for funding under heading 3. The negotiation that is happening is important and it is a negotiation among the member states, not with any faceless institution.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01