Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein)

I echo the Sinn Féin Party's condolences for those poor lives that were lost in Louth. As a parent, I can only imagine. It is the worst nightmare to get that phone call, whether it is in the middle of the night or during the day. When my kids are out and they are not home yet, I have my phone on loud and I am waiting. Every time my phone beeps I have to look.

We often speak here about our farming community and how important it is to have our small family farms rooted in our rural communities. This evening, Sinn Féin is bringing forward a Private Members' motion in the Dáil on Mercosur. If this trade agreement goes through, it will see an unbelievable influx of beef to this country. This beef may be injected with hormones, as Mercosur countries do not have the same animal rights or rules and regulations that we have here in Ireland and across Europe. We have such a high standard of beef in this country that we are probably world-class beef distributors. If this trade agreement goes through in Europe, we will have beef coming in that will not go through the same regulatory scrutiny as ours does. The family farm is going to be devastated by this.

There are three different sides to this. There is the family farm, where their beef is not going to be worth what it is now. The price of beef is going to drop if this happens. There is also the climate side, as this will incentivise Brazil to cut down its rainforest to make more space to produce more beef. This beef will come into this country and be sold to hotels and restaurants. We will not see the packaging and will not know whether it is Irish beef that has gone through the same conditions that our world-class beef goes through. People could be sitting in a restaurant eating something that has been injected with hormones. I ask Senators to go back to their parties and plead with them to vote for the Private Member's motion this evening and stop this trade agreement from going ahead.