Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Today, farmers were outside the gates of Leinster House protesting against the EU-Mercosur deal. Yesterday, the IFA held a briefing on the trade deal, the crisis in farm incomes, the adverse effect of Brexit and climate change. There are farmers in the Public Gallery, including some from Louth. They are all appalled by this deal. There is agreement among all the main farming organisations, Opposition parties, and it would appear, some in the Cabinet that this is a bad deal for farmers, a bad deal for the island of Ireland and a bad deal in terms of meeting the challenge of climate change. Around 100,000 producers - farming families and local communities - are involved in the beef and livestock sector. The beef processing sector employs thousands more. The reality is that farmers in my own constituency of Louth, across this State and in the North now face a significant new threat to their livelihoods.

While the focus of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement has been on the beef industry, it also allows for the significant importing of poultry and pigmeat. We should not forget that these new levels of imports are in addition to the 269,000 tonnes of beef and 500,000 tonnes of poultry that the Mercosur states of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay export to the EU. This deal will do serious damage to our struggling agricultural sector and our rural communities, which are already being stripped of essential public services. The farming and agrifood sectors, which already face enormous difficulties and challenges as a result of Brexit, will be put under even greater threat by this deal.

Moreover, at a time when the EU and its member states have prioritised climate change, this deal will encourage states with a poor record of protecting their environments and a record of supporting deforestation. Last week, the Brazilian Space Agency released data documenting a massive spike in deforestation in the Amazonian rainforest. There was a year-on-year 88% increase in deforestation. What this means in practice is that 4,565 sq. km of rainforest were destroyed. That is an area five times the size of County Louth - gone in less than a year.

Climate change is not the only threat from the deal. Farming organisations have already expressed their concern that these states do not have the same standards of traceability, animal welfare or food safety. The Government must vote against this deal when it comes before the EU Trade Council but, crucially, the Irish Government has no veto. That was given away by our friends in Fianna Fáil.

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