Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister knows what the outcome of the report will be, namely, that the deal will be a bad one for Ireland. He also knows what the deal's benefits are. They accrue to the German car manufacturing sector. That is why the Irish Government will not stand up and say that the deal needs to be rejected. I believe the Government's position is that environmental concerns primarily will lead to such a public outcry that the EU will eventually have to abandon the deal. The Government will ensure that the deal is rejected without ever having to stand up for the Irish people and Irish farmers. I find that a cowardly approach. The Minister should stand up on behalf of the Government and say that this deal and deals like it are not in the interests of consumers, the environment or food production in the long term and should be rejected. The signal we are sending by refusing to reject this outright tells countries such as Brazil that they can continue destroying the environment in the name of food production. That is shameful and I call on the Minister to change tack in a way his predecessor would not.

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