Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I wish to ask supplementary questions on behalf of my party colleagues Deputies Cuffe and Gogarty.

While the Minister may believe the approach of the European Commission and the European Union to the Doha talks will be based on fairness, that view is not shared by many representatives of the least developed countries. Does the Minister not recognise that there is a dichotomy between what he has already told the House — that the least developed countries should not have to pay a price for whatever agreement is reached — and the views and activities of the EU Commissioner for Trade, Mr. Mandelson?

Does the Minister recognise that because of the unhappiness among the least developed countries, there is a real chance that many of them will act in concert to ensure the Doha round does not reach a conclusion? They will use a blocking mechanism to prevent the round from happening because of what many of us feel are justifiable causes for complaint about trade.

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