Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I wish him the best in his new position.

With the short amount of time I have, I will make some brief observations across the areas of both agriculture and fisheries. I echo the concerns that have been raised by others regarding Mercosur. The issues with Mercosur are wide-ranging and significant. It is difficult to see why anybody from an Irish perspective could even conceivably support it. It is clear to me, however, that the Irish Government has not been actively opposing it in the way that it should be if it is committed to ensuring it does not happen. I refer to the implications for Irish beef, the quality of our food, emissions in terms of deforestation of the Amazon and the quality and safety of the produce that could end up in the Irish market. It would be a significantly retrograde step and I encourage the Government to be more proactive in opposing Mercosur.

Similarly, on the global side of things, there are potential dangers to Irish food and drink produce off the back of a lot of the talk of the new US Administration. Obviously, nothing has happened at this point and the right approach is to wait and see, but preparation has to happen all the same. It is important to ensure that the Irish agrifood industry is supported in the best way possible, in terms of ensuring that key products in terms of food and drink, as well as pharmaceuticals and other areas, are a key priority in the EU negotiations with the United States.

I am thinking particularly of food and drink products such as dairy and whiskey. Items like that need to be central to negotiations. We also need to ensure new markets are explored. A particular area in which there would be scope to explore is a new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement between Britain and the EU. That could potentially benefit the Irish agrifood business.

I have spoken to people involved in the fishery industry both on the fishing side and the processing side. There is a feeling that they are always the bridesmaid - an afterthought of the Department. That is the feeling on the ground. An example is the issues around funding in recent times. The Brexit adjustment fund was an opportunity but there was a short timeline given by Europe - three to three and a half years. The Department of the marine took a year and a half for an announcement and to publish and open schemes to allow people in the industry to apply. It then only allowed 1.25 years for them to be completed. They were told there would be no cliff edge and that EMFAF would follow through.

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