Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach will not convince any sensible person, and certainly not any farmer, that he is protecting his or her interests in any shape, make or form by allowing our market to be flooded with South American beef. It makes no sense. Nobody believes the Taoiseach when he gives us this line that he is conscious of the needs of the rural economy and farming families, when out of the other side of his mouth he states the deal needs to be assessed and tested. It sounds like he is quite prepared to throw farming families under the bus if it suits the interests of bigger corporate interests who might wish to export into the large South American market. That is how it sounds to me and how it sounds to the farmers at the gate. What they need to hear from the Taoiseach is an unequivocal commitment to protect their livelihoods. What consumers need to hear from the Taoiseach is an unequivocal commitment to protect standards and the quality of the meat that is consumed here. We produce the best beef in the world. Why in the name of God would you open up our market to substandard produce?

Beef from South America does not comply with the same food standards or traceability requirements. The Taoiseach knows that. The President of Brazil has as much interest in the Paris Agreement or environmental standards as the man in the moon. The Amazon rainforest is known as the lungs of the world. The Government is proposing to puncture the lungs of the world to allow cheap beef imports into the Irish market. That is unforgivable. If the Taoiseach and his Government care about farmers then they should support our motion. That will be the real test and the real yardstick of his rhetoric.

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