Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)

I thank the Department officials for coming in. I wish Sinéad McPhillips all the best in her new job. I look forward to working with her over the years ahead.

I am totally opposed to the Mercosur trade deal. It is incredible really. It has been a masterclass in political doublespeak from the European Union in many ways. Over the last hour we have been talking about the nitrates derogation and we have been talking about all of the stringent regulations that pertain to farmers in relation to water quality and so on. We are fighting for the nitrates derogation with our European colleagues and meanwhile the Commission is seeking to sign a trade deal with the Mercosur countries that will see thousands of hectares of forestry removed. It does not make any sense. I am actually in shock in many ways with the level of detail and the level of analysis that we spoke about in the last session of this committee in relation to the nitrates derogation. In this session we are talking about almost 100,000 tonnes of beef coming in from the Mercosur countries. Ms McPhillips is only reporting what is coming from Europe but she has said that environmental standards will not be the same and that there may be some parity in relation to food quality or food safety but not in relation to environmentalism. Does it make sense to Ms McPhillips? What is her sense on it? To me, the two do not make any rational sense. A lot of this is really incredible and it is doublespeak. What is Ms McPhillips' sense on it?