Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I offered the strong opinion, as did other countries, that we did not believe the conditions were ripe for a ministerial conference and that the package presented was not acceptable under any heading be it NAMA, emerging economies and so on. Several countries stated there that was no point in agreeing a deal simply to meet a particular timetable such as the conclusion of the presidential elections. In other words, that we had better move now before the new president is elected as he or she may have a different perspective on protectionism or free trade issues.

There is no point in rushing into an unacceptable deal knowing a new president may take a different approach to this. It would make far better sense for us to stand back and re-evaluate where we are. The world is changing fast in terms of food security and what are now termed as emerging economies. The next decade will bring much more than emerging economies from what I can see. We need to be careful in terms of how we proceed. From our perspective very little progress has been on the NAMA issues. Also, the agricultural deal is unacceptable to us.

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