The commissioner made the comments as he officially opened the FBD National Dairy Show at the Green Glens Arena, Millstreet, Co. Cork today (Friday, October 9).

Securing political agreement on the next long-term EU budget, known as the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF), presents a major challenge for Ireland's EU presidency.

Ireland will tomorrow present a revised negotiating position for the EU budget beyond 2027 to European leaders.

The draft will be unveiled by Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne at a press conference in Brussels.

Commissioner McGrath told Agriland that it is a "challenging time and an important moment" for farming across the EU in the context of the ongoing budget negotiations.

"The Irish government is in a unique position now because it holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

"At this moment in time, their role is not to represent the Irish position as such. It is to try and find common ground among all of the member states," he said.

The commissioner said some large member states who have traditionally "gone a long way to funding the EU" are calling for "substantial cuts to the EU budget" due to their own fiscal positions.

CAP

Commissioner McGrath said there are "new priorities in Europe" when it comes to these budget talks, particularly around the issue of security and defence.

"That said, I am certain that there is a consensus on the need to protect agriculture, to protect the Common Agricultural Policy, to support the family farm, to address issues like intergenerational renewal, also to encourage and support more women becoming involved in farming, which is also a challenge.

"But the primary focus is, of course, on income supports," he said.

"We know that this comes at a time when there's a lot of market volatility around commodity prices.

"We know that the cost of energy, cost of inputs, fertiliser, fuel has really shot up in recent times, and it makes the context very, very difficult," he added.

EU budget

Commissioner McGrath said the current objective is to reach political agreement on the next overall EU budget by the end of the year.

"The earlier that we can reach agreement, the more certain we can be that the funding programmes, including CAP, will actually be flowing and will be up and running from January 1, 2028, which is our focus.

"Please be assured of my support as a commissioner from Ireland, but the broader support of the European Commission, even though the circumstances are challenging, farming needs to be supported," he said.

Commissioner McGrath said the commission is looking forward to working with the member states and "hopefully getting a good outcome for Irish farming and European farming".