Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)

The Minister knows the Mercosur trade deal is bad for Ireland and Irish farmers. Before the last general election, the Government was against the agreement. Now it is time to stand up against the deal. In the EU, the Sinn Féin MEPs, Lynn Boylan and Kathleen Funchion, are standing up for Ireland and Irish farmers. Along with colleagues in the Left group, they have referred the deal to the European Court of Justice. They have asked the top European court to rule on whether the Mercosur deal is legal under EU law.

This agreement is widely criticised for undermining our climate goals and bypassing democratic scrutiny. The deal would let either side demand compensation if it believed the policies of the other side had hurt it economically, even if those policies complied with all legal and trade rules. This could be exploited to further undermine EU regulations around climate, workers’ rights and health standards. The agreement puts the health of our people at risk. It will facilitate a race to the bottom in poultry and beef standards. There is no test for the antibiotics put into beef or poultry imported from Brazil. We have to take the word of rich big ranch farmers. This is simply not good enough.

This deal will have damaging consequences for the environment. It will see further deforestation in South America. It threatens the livelihood of indigenous farmers in Brazil. They have pleaded with Europe not to support this deal as it will give the big ranchers and their supporters the green light to push farmers off their land to make way for the production of beef to undermine EU farmers, including Irish farmers. This must serve as a wake-up call for the Government. Now it is time for it to make up its mind, stand up for Ireland and its farmers against this dangerous deal and say no to Mercosur.

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