Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Today, the Government will set out its climate action plan and we wait to see the detail of what will be announced. I put it to the Minister that there is little point in waving the big stick at Irish farmers if the EU market is about to be flooded by environmentally damaging Brazilian beef in the coming years. The first step the Government should take in bringing farmers on board with a more sustainable food production is to reject the EU-MERCOSUR trade deal. It is bad for Ireland and it is bad for the planet.

It is a trade deal that is, at its core, a glaring contradiction to the policies and politics set out by the European leaders this week. It fundamentally undermines climate action targets and actively encourages a hyper-intensive farming model that pushes out family farmers. Will the Minister commit, on what should be a good one for climate action, not to sign up to this bad deal? Will he inform the European Commission that Ireland rejects the Mercosur trade deal?

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