EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen said today (Thursday, January 23), that he will remain "committed" to supporting and saving average family farms in Ireland.

Commissioner Hansen said that the EU would work on solutions for the "negative externalities of agriculture production".

Upon his visit to Ireland, the commissioner attended a family farm in Co. Kildare, which he described as "medium sized", with a sustainable production system. He said that these farms need to be supported "better".

He spoke about the nitrates derogation, and said that "all" types of farms, large and small are needed to ensure "viability and attractiveness".

"We need all of our farmers to ensure food security in Europe and every size is needed. If it is a smaller farmer or a bigger farmer, an organic farmer or a conventional farmer, we need them all.

"We need to create as well, the financial environment to cope with additional restrictions, and work hand in hand with national authorities because some measures can be done nationally," Commissioner Hansen said.

The commissioner said that the EU's vision for the future of agriculture will put an "emphasis" on supporting young and new farmers, with "a lot" of work to be done in this area in Ireland.

The commissioner addressed farmers at the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) annual general meeting (AGM), where the nitrates derogation was flagged as a "key concern", along with the Mercosur trade deal.

Speaking to Agriland about the Mercosur deal, the commissioner said that it will be "important" for the EU to work on "reciprocity" in general when speaking about trade.

"When we are producing to very high standards, I think we need to enforce this and control this better for products that are coming in," Commissioner Hansen said.

The European Union currently exports over €230 billion of agricultural goods per year, with a total surplus of €70 billion, according to the European Commission.

"Ireland is champion of exporting high standard agriculture goods and therefore we need to create markets. We know some markets may be more fragile, take, for example, the exports to China where we don't know what is going to happen with dairy products.

"It is good to have trade relations with like-minded partners, and take very seriously the concerns that our farming community have and to address them," Commissioner Hansen said.

The commissioner is due to leave Ireland today. However, he said he will pay another visit soon once the new Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has been elected.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has been elected Taoiseach to lead the new government in the 34^th Dáil and the new Cabinet line-up of ministers will be finalised shortly.