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

I appreciate the Deputy's concern. She has raised the issue in the House previously and her rural constituency obviously has her well informed, as is the case for all other Members.

To be fair to the track record of the Government, I point to the aforementioned €50 million that the Exchequer is putting in to support the beef industry, the beef environmental efficiency scheme and support being provided to producer organisations. In the context where we do not have a direct influence on price, we can deliver income support through extending the disadvantaged areas and by putting €50 million back into the sector. Every opportunity we have had through any initiatives that are supplying additional resources have been targeted at this sector and we continue to make such efforts.

It is not about forging alliances into the future. That work is ongoing. Most recently, the Taoiseach co-signed a letter with President Macron of France and the Prime Ministers of Belgium and Poland on the issue of the Mercosur agreement. We will continue because we are not without other member states which share our concerns on specific aspects of this.

As I said, this is not a deal yet and there is still an opportunity to shape and influence it. It is something on which we can all work collaboratively to ensure the ultimate terms and conditions that apply will deliver a level playing pitch on standards and that we can invoke the environmental chapter, or the chapter on sanitary and phytosanitary standards, to deliver that. We must work with the EU institutions, within Government here and with other governments across the EU. Simultaneously, we must do the appropriate economic and environmental assessments so we are armed with the necessary information to sustain the arguments that we make.

See this speech in context