Mary Wallace (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

I support the amendment proposed by my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Coughlan. Having listened attentively to the debate, I have heard nothing that leads me to support the motion tabled by Fine Gael. The original motion asks Deputies to note the "failure of the Government to have non-trade issues debated in the context of the World Trade Organisation talks". The reality is that the efforts of the Government — particularly my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Coughlan — have ensured that non-trade concerns are a feature of every debate on this subject at Council level. We are pleased that this issue is to the fore of the agendas of a considerable number of other member states, including France, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Greece. The existing WTO provisions on equivalent protection for consumers allowed the EU to take action recently to restrict beef imports from Brazil.

The Fine Gael motion also asks the House to note "the failure of the Government to honour its own commitments in this regard as outlined in the programme for Government". I suggest that we should conduct this debate on the basis of facts. The Government has not failed to honour its WTO commitments. It has pledged to secure the highest achievable level of support for the farming sector and to promote the need for non-trade issues to be part of further trade deals. This is precisely what we have done and are continuing to do. The motion calls for "a major political and diplomatic initiative to protect the Common Agricultural Policy and Irish agricultural interests". A major political and diplomatic offensive to protect the policy has been up and running for a considerable time. My ministerial colleagues have outlined in some detail during this debate the efforts that have been made at all levels of the Government to press the Irish viewpoint on the world trade deal. The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food have made every effort in this regard. These efforts will be continued and redoubled in the crucial weeks to come.

The original motion moved by Deputy Kenny asks the Government to "ensure that food safety and security, climate change, animal welfare and human health interests are priorities in the context of any future agreement in the WTO". My colleagues have expressed in no uncertain terms the Government's concerns about the proposals which are on the table. These concerns range across the full spectrum of Irish interests and include not only the matters referred to in the Opposition's motion, but also the real social, economic and environmental impacts of any final deal. The Opposition has called on us to "immediately publish a sectoral analysis on the impact of the current proposals for Irish agriculture". The Minister, Deputy Coughlan, has made clear that a huge range of analysis has been carried out by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and other agencies on an ongoing basis since the outset of the negotiations to inform Ireland's negotiating position. She has also offered to brief Deputies on a confidential basis on the key issues relating to this analysis. It would be imprudent for the Government to undermine its negotiating position by making its calculations available publicly.

Fine Gael has called on the Government to "signal its willingness to use all necessary measures to defeat the current WTO proposals". It goes without saying that the Government will make every effort to secure the best possible deal for Irish agriculture and will continue to pursue a balanced outcome to the WTO negotiations. The Government's two-pronged strategy in regard to the negotiations involves both the over-arching political level and the detailed technical level. We will continue to seek the broadest and strongest possible political alliance within the EU to oppose a bad deal for Irish and European agriculture, while pursuing detailed issues with the Commission which could be of significant assistance to the Irish agrifood sector if a deal is done. We will continue to express at every available opportunity at EU and international levels Ireland's concerns about the negotiations, particularly in relation to agriculture. We will continue to insist that the Commission adheres to the principle of ensuring that any outcome does not necessitate further reform of the CAP. We will continue to seek and enhance support for our position at EU level among other like-minded member states. We will pursue vigorously, with the Commission and elsewhere, the technical points that will allow Ireland to maintain effective import protection for its products and will result in equitable treatment of sensitive products and provide meaningful levels of protection and reasonable and fair prices. I commend the amendment proposed by the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, to the House.

See this speech in context