Minister Heydon grilled in timeless drama

An often boisterous inaugural meeting of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee saw Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon put through his paces last week.

The meeting was suspended at one point by chair Aindrias Moynihan, as new Laois TD Willie Aird, continued to talk as Martin Heydon responded.

Aird spent his allotted 10 minutes raising a wide number of issues undoubtedly of relevance to farmers, but leaving Heydon little time to respond. Moynihan then said Aird’s 10 minutes were up, but Aird continued doggedly.

A couple of warnings from the chair didn’t dissuade the Ag Committee’s answer to Davy Fitzgerald, and the meeting was suspended for a few minutes.

Aird was sitting alongside fellow first-time Fine Gael TD Joe Cooney and Danny Healy-Rae, a group that might be considered the Hardy Bucks.

While all three are supporting the Government, they came across as a delegation of farmers from the IFA or INHFA more than backbench TDs. Aird is 64, but that makes him the youngest of the three, with Joe Cooney 67 and Danny Healy-Rae now 70 years of age.

What the three amigos lack in youth they make up for with spiky energy. Just to add spice to the mix, Aird is the vice-chair of the committee.

Farcical air

The slightly farcical air of the meeting was added to by the fact that the digital clock which normally counts down the allotted time for each committee member was not working. Much confusion ensued. Some of the TDs and senators seemed utterly unable to activate the stopwatch function on their phones.

As for the minister, he gave over two hours answering questions from the committee, only stopping when forced to do so due to a vote being called in the Dáil. The remit was for five topics to be addressed, CAP, nitrates, TB, GAEC 2, and ACRES, but the questions inevitably extended miles beyond that in every direction.

While there was a full court press of senior Department advisers present, including Sinéad McPhillips, Ted Massey, Paul Savage, Conor O’Mahony and Damien Barrett, Heydon never once brought them in to respond on his behalf.

Instead, the minister, who has been fairly low-profile to date, seemed happy to spar with all comers. While sparring with the Hardy Bucks, the engagements with Sinn Féin’s representatives were courteous and constructive on both sides. Heydon agreed with Martin Kenny’s primary point that the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) is key to a good CAP outcome, and that finance and trade ministers would have key roles.

Heydon reassured Kenny that he has “the full support of my Government colleagues” in relation to seeking a ring-fenced CAP budget for both pillars.

Independent Ireland’s Michael Fitzmaurice went for the “just a minute” approach, firing questions at Heydon like the late Larry Gogan, pressing him on what veto options Ireland has. I’m bringing popcorn to the next meeting.