Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)

Mercosur is a rotten deal for people and for the planet and it must be rejected. The Government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the regional Independents, including the Healy-Rae brothers, is selling out Ireland, abandoning our farmers and signing a blank cheque for environmental degradation and destruction the world over because there is no doubt this is just the beginning and it will put the farm families out of business. They are rolling out the red carpet for imports, packed with banned pesticides, hormones and antibiotics and gambling with our agriculture, public health and the future of the planet.

It is a fundamental threat to our sovereignty. I refuse to accept that the largest free trade agreement in history can go ahead without the approval of national parliaments. It is undemocratic and a betrayal of the Irish people. The Government must be honest that this Mercosur deal is fundamentally incompatible with climate science. It exposes the hypocrisy of the Government, von der Leyen and the Commission, in allowing 99,000 tonnes of untraceable South American beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry into the EU market at reduced tariffs. These imports are not subject to the same standards. They fall far short of the high bar we expect from Irish farmers, who produce high-quality food for EU citizens and at the same time provide public goods. This is all being sacrificed for the benefit of global corporations in the automotive and pharma sector to sell cars, insurance and wine. The Government is signing up to a deal that will decimate the Earth's lungs and will reward production linked to the deforestation of the Amazon and the Sierra Nevada, two of the most critical ecosystems on our planet.

I ask the Government, including the Healy-Rae brothers, if they stand with family farmers and indigenous people in the Amazon, and the shared future of the planet? Do they believe in democracy or will they sell out for corporate greed? It is their moment of choice. Which side are they on?

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