Natasha Newsome Drennan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)

I express my deep condolences to the family of a Waterford man who tragically lost his life in a farming incident this week. It is a stark reminder that farming remains one of the most dangerous occupations in Ireland. I welcome the people in the Public Gallery who represent different farming organisations.

I commend my colleague, Deputy Martin Kenny, and the wider Sinn Féin team on their work on this motion. Most important, I commend them on listening to the deep concerns of the farming community and bringing their voices, concerns and worries about the future of rural communities to the Dáil. Let us be clear: Sinn Féin will ensure their voices are always heard in this Chamber and not left outside the gates of Leinster House.

The Mercosur trade agreement is not some abstract trade policy. It is a direct attack on Irish agriculture, our family farmers and rural communities. Farms like mine in south Kilkenny and that of the Minister in Kildare have been passed down from one generation to the next. Like the Minister's children, my children are growing up on a suckler farm, like so many sons and daughters across Ireland who have grown up farming and working the land. It is much more than a job; it is a way of life. It is a passion that has ensured our farmers reach higher and higher standards. I want a future where our sons and daughters on farms across Ireland can make a decent living while producing the highest quality of food. I give them our word that we will damn well fight for that future.

We should be under no illusion. The Mercosur agreement will create a race to the bottom. For the wider public, the changes will be subdued. Beef that is 100% Irish will start disappearing from menus. Instead, people across Ireland will be served beef that is not traceable and not grass-fed, but reared indoors on banned growth hormones and genetically modified feed. It will devastate the rainforests. Hundreds of thousands of acres are being cleared in South America right now, specifically to produce more of this cheap beef for the EU market. This undermines everything we stand for. Food produced in Ireland and the EU is held to the highest standards. Mercosur countries could not be further from our high standards. Their practices would be considered a public health risk if they were used in the EU. This deal imports their lowest standards and puts the public at risk. Let us be clear: Mercosur is a bad deal for Irish farmers and a bad deal for public health and must be rejected.

Supporting the Mercosur trade agreement would be a betrayal of Irish farming and rural communities. It would involve selling out those who have often stood with the Minister, just so German businessmen can make millions of euro more selling cars and chemicals to South America. That will be the Minister's legacy if a firm stand is not taken now. He has a clear choice. I urge him to stand with ordinary people and stop Ireland being sold out for cheap imports and to protect Irish agriculture by backing this motion.

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