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

I thank Deputies for their engagement on this issue. It is a contentious topic for any Deputy, but especially those from rural Ireland. The breadth of the contributions reflects the scale of the issue, not only for individual beef farmers but for the rural economy generally. It is probably not widely understood outside the rural economy that the multiplier effect for the indigenous sector and the beef sector in particular is many times higher than it is for people involved in foreign direct investment, for instance, because of the purchase of local inputs and so on. Farming is critical to our rural economy and our biggest indigenous industry. The scale of the issues related to Mercosur as they relate to and impact on agriculture are of real concern to the farming community. There may be benefits for public procurement, services and manufacturing. In assessing the deal, we will examine all of these issues and the impact on the farming sector, especially the beef sector. We will consider how we can use the intervening period appropriately to ensure that the ultimate terms and conditions which apply to the deal when it is reflected in a legal text are used to protect and deliver a fair trade agreement and a level playing pitch.

From my constituency experience and engagement with farmers generally, they do not fear competition provided it is fair. What we fear in the context of Mercosur is the potential for competition to be unfair. The Government's function and responsibility, during the close-out period of a possible trade agreement, is to ensure its terms and conditions are influenced in our favour. I reiterate the point I made on carcass weight equivalent. The segmentation of that insofar as it is currently articulated only deals with fresh or frozen beef. It is critical in serving our industry to ensure the appropriate segmentation is secured, in particular the imports cannot only be prime cuts and the only segmentation that applies will between fresh and frozen.

I accept the points made about the beef sector in general and its current difficulties. I refer again to the initiatives being taken in that area. This trade deal comes on top of other challenges facing the industry, such as the new Common Agricultural Policy and climate change.

One of the great hallmarks of the Irish agrifood industry in all its manifestations, inside and outside the farm gate, is the capacity to work together. We have met big challenges such as foot and mouth disease and the pork dioxin crisis, and we can rise to meeting this challenge as well. It is critical that we use the intervening period to influence the shape of the deal that is done. In everything I will be doing for as long as I am here, I commit to ensuring we deliver fair competition. In this context, fair competition will ensure we can compete with anybody throughout the world.

On Deputy Nolan's point about the 260,000 tonnes, in global trade anybody can export provided they meet the terms and conditions of EU consumer protection standards and pay the appropriate tariff for trade with third countries. Much of the access people enjoy is on the basis that they pay the most favoured nation, MFN, tariff rate. We cannot stop that product, other than insisting it meets the appropriate terms and conditions. With regard to the future agreement and the 90,000 tonnes, it is about making sure that whether or not the figure becomes the reality, we ensure the terms and conditions under which the market is accessed deliver fair trade and competition for our industry.

My colleague has dealt extensively with the approval process. It is some distance away from us. I appreciate we will have an opportunity to debate all this tomorrow. It is some time away and it will be an issue for a future Oireachtas. It is not an issue this Oireachtas will consider because there is not a deal to be considered at this stage. I commit to ensuring that if the deal ever becomes a reality it will not have the outline of the deal we have seen.

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