Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Our beef industry is under major financial pressure. Since my election in 2016, the House has discussed the economic crisis facing the beef industry numerous times. The Taoiseach recently told people the Government would always have their back. That statement rings extremely hollow in light of the agreement with Mercosur, which will be the final nail in the coffin of the beef industry. The point raised most consistently with me by farmers over the weekend was the challenge they will face as a result of climate change. The Commission is talking out of the other side of its mouth on this issue by allowing beef to be transported halfway across the world to displace European beef from European shelves. Brexit will pose a major economic challenge for us. We will be 116% self-sufficient in beef when Brexit takes place, yet the Commission is selling out our beef industry. The only way to describe this agreement is that it is a sell-out by the industrial powers of Europe.

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