Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

As Deputy Creed quite rightly says, we are all very concerned about this proposal. It is no secret, and it has been in the public domain, that President Barroso, head of the European Commission, has been the driving force behind this particular initiative to re-open these talks. It is no secret either that there were robust discussions at the college meeting of the Commissioners in early May when this issue arose. It is in the public domain as well that three Commissioners, namely, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Innovation, Research and Science, Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, and Dacian Ciolos, Commissioner for Agriculture, made particularly strong interventions in opposition to the proposal that was being put forward by President Barroso, and they were supported by the other Members of the Commission as well. Indeed, that is indicated in the meetings of the college on that particular day.

At the recent EU-Latin American Summit in Madrid, the Taoiseach was quoted in one of the newspapers the following day as outlining our concerns in relation to the difficulties that would arise for the beef sector in this country. I believe the points Deputy Creed made earlier are well taken regarding the need to ensure that Europe is not putting more up for offer, with the danger that we could lose even further. I would be very opposed to that in the event.

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