Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Make no mistake, this deal will be no windfall for consumers either. The reality is that farmers receive approximately 30% of what the consumer pays for produce. When consumers here buy Irish products, they can have the confidence that they are buying products of the highest possible quality. Traceability, as well as strictly enforced farming practices with severe penalties for breaches of rules, have ensured much better animal welfare as well as high quality food. However, this strict regime leads to much higher production costs, a trade off which ensures a quality product. It is extremely unfair to enforce such strict regimes here and expect our farmers to compete against imported products which do not have the same, or anywhere near the same, levels of control. We have seen the impact of imported beef from other countries most notably Brazil. We have no control over the quality of product eventually landing on the Irish dinner table.

Along with quality we need to ensure that the issue of food security is at the forefront of Commissioner Mandelson's mind over the coming weeks and I am not convinced that it is. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation's most recent report shows that the world's poorest countries are being hit badly. When one considers the rise in the world's population and climate change, the outcome of these negotiations is crucial. If we damage our beef, dairy and sheep sectors over the next five years, it will not be possible to get them back. I reject the suggestion I heard this morning, not made in the House, that it will be less painful because it will be spread over a period of time. Once we let this industry slide, and the Government sat back and watched the beet industry slide away, it will be unable to recover.

The agreement being negotiated has the potential to seriously damage our agricultural sector. I have witnessed in my constituency the impact the demise of the sugar industry has had on particular areas, on farmers as well as on associated ancillary services, and this was with a proportionally much smaller number of farmers engaged in sugar beet production. The potential damage to a much larger portion of the agricultural community cannot be underestimated and I fear the Government is underestimating it.

There is no mandate to do this. It is far more than we signed up to in CAP. The Minister spoke about a balanced deal but she has not outlined what that deal would entail. She told us that the Government has made its opinions known to the EU. However, it took this motion to get them outlined to the House.

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