Much of the daily lives of our citizens, from farmers to researchers, small businesses and community organisations, is shaped by what is in the EU budget. We have seen calls across Europe, including from the likes of Chancellor Merz, for a slashing of social cohesion funding and a focus on a wartime economy. What are the Department's priorities for this multi-annual financial framework, MFF, and how is the Government advocating for Irish interests in negotiations?

First, if the Deputy has read the letter from Chancellor Merz, she will know that he did not say the cohesion budget should be slashed or that a wartime economy should be funded.

Pursuing agreement on the next MFF is a top priority for the Irish Presidency. The Irish Presidency has advanced work ambitiously and at pace over recent months in an effort to bring member states closer to a consensus and with a view to concluding overarching negotiations on the MFF by the end of 2026. In an effort to do so, the Presidency will deliver a compromise proposal on key issues related to volume, expenditure and revenue to member states in October. It will then be for leaders at the European Council to decide the direction of negotiations, but what is clear is the need for compromise and flexibility among all member states. Each and every member state has to agree to this proposal.

As the holders of the Presidency, we are committed to our role in being an honest broker in negotiations as we continue to seek workable compromises in some of the key outstanding questions under discussion. This includes the overall size of the MFF, the sources of revenue and the balance between expenditure priorities. There have been varying views among member states throughout the negotiations on these key questions, and they remain today. Ireland’s compromise will seek to move everyone closer to agreement.

We recognise that it will be challenging for Ireland to bridge the gaps between member states, but we have made every effort to do so. This has included four substantive discussions among permanent representatives in Brussels and three debates among European affairs ministers at the General Affairs Council, which I chair, as well as bilateral meetings with all member states by our permanent representative in Brussels in July, and by me in September. This has been complemented by engagement with the Taoiseach, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and other Ministers with their EU counterparts in bilateral exchanges. In all these engagements, we have listened carefully to all member states and now, in our honest broker role, we are carefully considering compromises based on sound and robust evidence, which we believe will be capable of moving member states closer to a consensus.

Voices in that letter did call for a cut in funding. That is just the reality of the reporting.

The letter states, "The funding should be focused on common investment in security and defence, competitiveness, innovation and the fight against irregular migration". While I appreciate the Minister of State's description of the process he is engaged in, I would like to understand how he is representing the interests of Irish people.

I am extremely concerned with the development of the next MFF based on the direction of travel at EU level. The EU cohesion funding, horizon funding, the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and other key supports that are vital to many people across Irish society are under serious threat. These are also things that protect our democracies and societies from outside interference and ensure we have just and open societies and that children do not grow up in poverty and into adulthood in a world of fires and food shortages. This is the opportunity cost when the sole priorities of the EU are competitiveness and spending on the defence industry. Nothing the Minister of State has said has assured me he is pushing back against that.

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.

When I look to small Irish businesses, to our domestic productivity and to our communities on the ground, I do not see the benefits of the competitiveness agenda. No matter what the Minister of State says, his Government absolutely supports and champions that competitiveness agenda. I see redundancies from multinational tech companies and indigenous businesses struggling to survive. I also see a Government working in lockstep with whatever is the prevailing wind at EU level instead of standing up for what is most important to people on the ground here in Ireland. In this MFF, we need to see a focus on the peace project that the EU is supposed to be and can be. We need voices at EU level who will push for that focus on cohesion, democracy and delivering a better quality of life for citizens in the here and now. While we hear lip service and acknowledgement of these things, I do not see or hear anything about this being made a priority. It must be a priority. Those I represent want to know why our taxpayers' money should go towards subsidising arms factories rather than towards improving our society. I want to know what the Minister of State's Department is doing to demand that civil society, civilian life, agricultural life and civil businesses be the focus of the next MFF.

Farmers are a very significant focus of the MFF. They are hugely significant focus. Before our Presidency, we put forward our priorities and briefed Members of the Dáil and of the European Parliament on them. Those priorities we set out included agriculture and a real commitment to European engagement abroad. They also included competitiveness. What is competitiveness about? It is about making sure that we keep good-paying jobs in the European Union. That includes farming and small and medium enterprises. It also includes big businesses that employ people and provide essential manufacturing for the European Union. On cohesion, one of the priorities we negotiated into the negotiating document before we took on the Presidency was the PEACEPLUS programme, a unique fund that is jointly funded by the British Government, the Irish Government and the European Union. We succeeded in getting that into the negotiating document. That is cohesion funding in action. It shows where the Irish Government's priorities were before we got the Presidency, taking on this honest broker role.