Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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54. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position the Government will take in relation to suggestions that the EU Commission will offer significant tariff rate quota concessions for beef to South America in the Mercosur trade negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41648/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland is a small open economy and Irish Government policy is generally supportive of trade liberalisation. Sensitive products must be protected however, and in the case of any prospective deal with Mercosur countries, our position has been that the EU beef sector must be protected.

With this in mind our focus in recent weeks has been to build alliances with member states who consider that no offer should be made on beef in circumstances where the cumulative impact of current and future trade deals and the possible impact of Brexit have not been assessed.

I also continue to monitor the situation closely in co-operation with my Government colleagues, particularly the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, and the Taoiseach.

While the Commission responded to the strong lobbying by Ireland and others by excluding a beef Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) from the offers exchanged with Mercosur on 11 May 2016, there is a need for continued vigilance in relation to the conduct of these trade negotiations.

I am strongly of the view that any EU offer to Mercosur  requires further careful analysis and full discussion with Member States, and that the timing and content of any future offer is handled appropriately, and in a manner that safeguards the interests of the Irish and European beef sector in particular.