Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. There is no doubt that the agreement will provide some short-term gains in opening up further export opportunities for the Irish agrifood business. The Minister of State mentioned in his reply that there are structures in the negotiations about dealing with regulatory problems and barriers to trade. Part of these negotiations is a secret committee that will review issues and allow for dispute resolution to take place outside of the normal procedures within a member state, including courts and so on. That will lead to the further consolidation of the agrifood business and all businesses, will lead to decisions being made in secret and so countries will not be able to participate or have a role in defending, which is a very worrying situation. When we see the seed industry being consolidated into a small number of hands, we could see this expanding into the wider agrifood business as well. There should be a departmental view on this in respect of the negotiations.

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