Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I ask the Tánaiste to outline his engagements and position regarding the Mercosur trade agreement. We know the issues that exist for Irish farmers in this regard. They are afraid of 100,000 tonnes of South American beef entering the EU at the expense of deforestation. That means our farmers will need to do more while receiving less from the CAP. We are talking about this in the context of the Irish Government's failure to deliver a workable forestry framework. I attended a meeting with the IFA recently. Its representatives had been in Brussels and spoke about the feeling they had, no more than when we got the briefing last week from the Commission, that this was a done deal. They believe they are being sold out because they are being told they will have to accept this if they want anything on the derogation, which is obviously unacceptable.

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