Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think overall a trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur would be good. Trade agreements the European Union has made have been hugely beneficial, including the CETA with Canada and others made with South Korea and Japan more recently. One of the ironic things about Brexit is that in leaving the European Union the United Kingdom will walk out of all of these really good trade deals and have to negotiate deals on its own from a position of weakness because it is only an economy of 60 million people and will have much less negotiating power when negotiating with China or any other part of the world.

The Mercosur countries are big growing economies and Ireland, particularly the services sector, would really benefit from a free trade agreement. We have particular sensitivity in the case of beef, on which I have focused extensively in my conversations with the Commissioner and the Commission President. It is a sensitivity France also shares. We have a strong ally in France and are insisting on there being no diminution in standards. Standards need to be up to ours and a limited quota of beef should be allowed in. In recent months very little progress has been made on this issue and it may well be the case that no deal will be concluded. We are heading into electoral cycles in South America also. There was pressure on us a few months ago to relax our position in order that a deal could be made before the South American electoral cycle started. Ireland and France held the line and made it very clear that while we wanted a free trade agreement, we needed to ensure the beef sector, a very sensitive sector for Ireland and France, would be protected. We will hold to that position. I know the impact throughout the country. As Deputy Pat Deering knows better than I do, it affects much more than beef farmers. The beef industry flows from it. It is a really important part of the rural economy in many parts of the country.

The Standards in Public Office Commission has its remit and statutory role and I would not presume to tell it what to do. I am sure it will follow its statutory remit. If it comes to setting rules, the question I would ask is what rules would we set. The Internet and social media are new, but it is just a new medium. Why would the rules be fundamentally different? A radio or television station or a newspaper that is privately owned can decide whether it wants to accept advertisements. Why would we have a different rule for Internet companies? If we were to apply a rule across the board - it would have to apply across the board - the Oireachtas or the Government would be stating to newspapers, television stations, radio stations, cinemas, billboard companies and Internet companies that they would have to accept advertisements. I do not think I would do that.