Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government states that the development of the agriculture and food sector is a fundamental priority for the future direction of the country and that the priority must be to reward farmers for productivity and producing quality food, which brings me to the Mercosur deal. Many comments have been attributed to the Taoiseach over recent days. I have one direct question for him. Is he going to stand behind rural farming families in regard to this deal?

This is catastrophic. It is not a friendly deal or environmentally friendly. It will clear out small farming families. The Government must face down this deal.

See this speech in context