Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

Regardless of whether the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Coughlan, will still hold that portfolio on 19 May next, as a member of the Cabinet she will continue to be bound by collective responsibility to consider local interests when acting on this issue. All Ministers are charged with flying the flag for Irish farmers, families and communities on this issue. The problem with the approach being taken by the EU External Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, is that he is thinking globally without consulting local interests. Mr. Mandelson is keen to address global issues such as hunger and food shortages. He is placing a great deal of emphasis on what he sees as the need to open up world markets. He cosied up to the Chinese yesterday as part of an effort to get them to open up their manufacturing sector and reduce manufacturing and services tariffs, but there is no guarantee that will happen.

The irony of what is happening is that farmers in the United Kingdom, which is the country Peter Mandelson hails from, will lose out as a result of the WTO deal. Similarly, Irish, Polish and French farmers will be used as sacrificial lambs. While I accept that the EU has to be strong in terms of opening up certain markets, it also needs to be strong in terms of protection. An interesting comparison can be made with the EU carbon tax proposals. It is possible that a carbon tax of 20% on the production of oil will be imposed by 2020. If that happens, we will lose out in oil production, which will move further to the Middle East. The UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was red-faced yesterday when his request to OPEC to consider an increase in the production and supply of oil was turned down. Counter-balances need to be in place to ensure that collective global responsibility is a feature of the global warming debate, just as it is in the food shortage debate. If the member states of the EU take the high moral ground on global issues, they may lose out at local level.

How can the EU help to address the problems which lead to food shortages? There is plenty of land in the world. We could use our expertise to ensure that large swathes of land in Africa are used for food production. We can assist in the production of genetically modified crops and incentivise prices. Such issues are not being raised at EU level.

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