Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

Mercosur has been raised and it will continue to be raised. There was a vote in the European Parliament on safeguarding measures yesterday and one at the Council of Ministers today. I met my French counterpart yesterday about a number of issues but, obviously, Mercosur was on the agenda.

I met the French foreign minister the week before last. It is quite a topic of discussion. Clearly, France is one of the key countries. People have asked us here to continue to work with like-minded countries, and this is exactly what we have been doing.

Our starting point for all these trade agreements is that Ireland is pro-trade. Why is this? It is because we make more products and provide more services. We do not have enough people on the island to buy or consume all those products and services, so we sell them around the world and we create economic benefits for all of us and for all the factories in the various constituencies. There are loads of them around Deputy Ó Laoghaire's constituency, as well as in Dundalk, Waterford, my area and everywhere. Those places are selling products and services all around the world.

The fundamental starting point, therefore, is that we support trade because it has led to our economic growth. We must also protect our vital interests. There are obviously serious concerns here in relation to agriculture. These are genuine concerns, and we have been talking and listening to farmers on this issue. We have stated our position in the programme for Government that we have serious concerns, and this has not changed. We are working with member states, and this includes my meeting yesterday with the French Government. The Taoiseach has also been in touch with President Macron on a number of occasions about this matter.

We want to fully interrogate the draft agreement and make absolutely sure this legally binding safeguards instrument can work for farmers. We are carefully assessing all of this now to understand if it is dealing with the well-known concerns that Deputies have addressed around the House, particularly around farmers and food.

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