The European Commission "is not listening to farmers" when it comes to negotiating trade deals, according to one policy executive representing farmers.

Noel Banville of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA), who is based in Brussels, said that "outside of people based in Brussels and domestic civil servants, the people who know most about the EU, are farmers across Europe".

With potential trade deals in the future with countries such as Australia, Banville said that there must be some guarantees from the European Commission about whether it "actually wants to support farmers".