Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. We all must salute the excellent work of Bord Bia in this regard. It has employed about 20 additional personnel, some even after the recent Brexit scenario. Will the Minister provide additional resources to Bord Bia to ensure that it can be helped to penetrate the high quality markets that will now be extremely important and to accentuate Origin Green and the quality and sustainability of beef? In that context, is the Minister concerned about the possible impact of the Mercosur agreement, particularly regarding Brazilian beef and so on and the impact that it would have on the British market in the context of lower prices? In 2006, over 100,000 tonnes of beef imports to the UK came from South America. The equivalent figure in 2015 was just 30,000 tonnes. Brazilian beef made up 9% of beef imports to the UK in 2015; in 2006, the equivalent figure was 20%. This shows the potential knock-on impact this agreement would have on beef farmers in Ireland.

See this speech in context