Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Commission, particularly in the agriculture area, has conducted assessments of our engagement on this issue. The cumulative impact assessment was based on a set of conditions, which are not the conditions that are proposed now. I will not be hidebound by any analysis done by the Commission. The Government has clearly stated that the Government will conduct an impact assessment of the proposals in the trade deal - the pluses and minuses. I see very considerable minuses in the agriculture sector, specifically the beef sector and its impact on the rural economy. However, we will look at all of it.

In addition to that assessment, in the intervening period we will make progress as the document is transposed into a legal text. I mentioned earlier the ambition and opportunity in that process to ensure that we deliver on legally binding guarantees that will ensure a level playing pitch with regard to sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, standards and environmental standards. In some respects we are being criticised for the actions of a Commission - this is not a Government proposal - but the Commission is being criticised for having an environmental chapter, an SPS chapter, a trade resolution chapter, chapters on indigenous peoples and commitments on international labour law. Some of those represent an opportunity for us to ensure the production systems that are not fair now are exposed for what they are. They are not climate friendly and they do not have the same standards that apply to our production systems. Consumers need to be protected from that and that is the opportunity that exists in the next couple of years.

See this speech in context