Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, for fear that this may be my last opportunity, I, too, would like to be associated with the remarks of thanks to the Seanad staff - Martin and all his staff and the ushers and everybody involved in helping us along our way and making life so much easier for us in fulfilling our roles here. In case I do not get another opportunity, I thank them all.

As we speak, members of the ICSA are protesting outside the gates of Leinster House with regard to the Mercosur deal. I met the ICSA members before coming to the Chamber. They were joined in their protest this morning by members of the IFA and the Irish Rural Association. I am aware that, due to the circumstances and time constraints, there is no point in looking for Ministers, the Taoiseach or anybody else to come to the House at this stage to address this issue, but I want to send out a warning to all those involved, including the Ministers and the Taoiseach, that we will be all acting during the process of the election and thereafter, along with our MEPs, and we need to keep our eye on the ball with regard to the Mercosur deal. The Taoiseach is on record as stating last week that we needed consistency of approach. An article published today in the farming section of the Irish Independent details that EU officials who performed a food-safety audit in Brazil between 17 June and 24 July found that the traceability of Brazilian beef cannot prove that the hormone estradiol-17b is not present in Brazilian beef that is being imported to Europe at present. This is a carcinogenic hormone. We need consistency of approach. We have had environmental and sustainable issues in the past with regard to the removal of Brazilian rainforest to produce beef but if there is still that inability to prove through their own traceability system that the beef does not contain these hormones, that is not consistency of approach. That is not a level playing field. While I am in favour of free and fair trade, that is not fair trade. Where our beef sector stands to lose anything from €45 million to €55 million if this Mercosur beef from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay comes in as part of this deal, that is not on. I urge all those incumbent Ministers, the Taoiseach and MEPs during the process of our election to keep their eye on this ball and let nothing go in under the radar with the excuse of that we were in election mode at the time and did not have an acting Government.