Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When I was speaking on Mercosur in recent weeks, the concerns I outlined related to Brazil and the letter to the EU, signed by 350 civil society organisations, on the deteriorating human rights and environmental conditions in Brazil. Around the same time, approximately 600 scientists with representatives of indigenous communities called on the EU to support human rights and sustainable development in the light of the increased violations and threats to indigenous peoples and their lands in ecologically valuable areas. Civil society in Brazil is under severe threat because of President Bolsonaro's campaign of anti-activism. His plans include supervising and monitoring those non-governmental organisations and international agencies that draw attention to such issues, while his Cabinet contains at least two ministers who are deniers of climate change and global warming. It is staggering to think the Mercosur countries originally sought a beef quota of 300,000 tonnes, whereas the deal will now provide for 99,000 tonnes. That will require an awful lot of grazing land and, in this time of climate awareness and urgency, it is illogical that forests will be cut down for grazing cattle while our farmers are being encouraged to grow trees, not least in view of the emissions from cattle.

Food safety is the other aspect. Great progress is being made here on raising awareness, the importance of traceability, knowing about the meat we eat and what the cattle are fed, but this is a retrograde step. We know that people will buy cheaper meat. Some people have no option but to do that, such are their circumstances, but we will not know exactly what is in the meat.

There are so many questions about the trade deal. I have previously mentioned the investor-state dispute settlement. The deal is presented as historic and it took 20 years. The Minister stated it is not a done deal and that it has not been approved by any member states or the EU. There is an opportunity, therefore, to examine it. It has been dominated by beef issues, about which there are genuine concerns, but other aspects in the deal also need to be examined. There is an opportunity for a high level group to do that forensic examination, particularly to climate-proof and rights-proof it and to check it for threats to Irish farming and businesses. There is finally a business and human rights implementation group here and it could discuss the matter.

The Dutch trade minister wrote an opinion piece stating this is an opportunity for Europe to export its high social and environmental standards to South American companies. We know the need for labour rights, better working conditions, a living wage and a minimum wage in the Mercosur countries. She claims there are strict monitoring mechanisms, a commitment to implementing the Paris Agreement and so on. There is no doubt about the anger of Irish farmers. It was palpable not just in emails they sent but also earlier on the streets.

Many issues must be addressed and we need thorough scrutiny of all that is involved before accepting or rejecting a deal. We must have fully formed decisions and where improvements are to be made, they must be made.

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