Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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175. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has engaged with the Department of Foreign Affairs in the past 12 months regarding the Mercosur trade agreement, the number of such engagements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65975/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Since the Commission announced the conclusion of negotiations in December 2024, and through every subsequent stage, my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have worked closely together to fully understand the implications of the agreement for Ireland.

The continuous engagement between both Departments has been critical to how we voice our concerns to the European Commission and to other Member States, and to how we assess whether our concerns have been adequately addressed.

During critical moments of the process this engagement has intensified, such as when, on 3rd September, the Commission put forward its proposals for the signature and conclusion of the agreement and, more recently on 8th October, when the Commission brought forward its proposal for a regulation on safeguards for sensitive agricultural products.

These engagements have ensured that Ireland, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has lead responsibility for trade policy, has made strong interventions at such fora as the Trade Policy Committee and Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels outlining our concerns with the agreement.

Since my appointment as Minister earlier this year, I have raised Ireland's concerns at Agri-Fish Council meetings and with like-minded Member States through bilateral meetings on the margins of these Council meetings. In recent months, I have met with my French, Italian, Austrian, Latvian and Polish counterparts to exchange views.

During these engagements, I have also repeatedly emphasised Ireland’s requirements for credible, legally-binding commitments on matters relating to trade and sustainable development, including climate, biodiversity, and deforestation protections. In addition, I have highlighted the fact that beef is a very sensitive sector, which is vulnerable to negative impacts from the Mercosur agreement.

In October the Commission made a proposal to further reinforce safeguards on imports of sensitive products through a dedicated legal act which will operationalise the Bilateral Safeguards chapter of the agreement. Ireland has sought clear, transparent and regular two-way engagement on the monitoring of the market situation for sensitive products, as well as some clarity on definitions within the regulation and the use of surveillance measures. We will continue to engage with Commission on these issues.

As it stands Ireland's position on the EU-Mercosur Agreement remains as clearly outlined in the Programme for Government: ‘Work with like-minded EU countries to stand up for Irish farmers and defend our interests in opposing the current Mercosur trade deal."