2026-01-13

I move: That Dáil Éireann: condemns: — in the strongest possible terms, the catastrophic failure of the Irish Government to prevent the advancement of the European Union (EU)-Mercosur Trade Agreement, despite many years of warnings, repeated opportunities to build a blocking minority, and repeated appeals from Irish farming organisations, environmental experts and Sinn Féin; and — the role of the Taoiseach, who not only failed to challenge the Mercosur process, but who previously led the charge in misleading the public on the Lisbon Treaty, dismissing concerns at the time about weakened democratic processes, control over EU trade policy, reduced veto powers and diminishing national leverage; recognises that: — the Government's job was to stop the Mercosur Trade Agreement, and that they have failed utterly in this task; — the Irish Government failed to stand firm, refused to engage seriously with like-minded EU member states, and refused to use Ireland's leverage when it actually mattered; — at the eleventh hour they have cynically announced, in an act of political cowardice, they will vote against the Mercosur Trade Agreement, only after the deal is effectively locked in at EU level; — this failure reflects a broader pattern of passivity, complacency and unwillingness to challenge the European Commission on behalf of Irish farmers, Irish environmental obligations, and Ireland's strategic interests; and — the Irish Government was wrong to dismiss public concerns about the Lisbon Treaty, and that warnings at the time about weakened democratic controls over EU trade policy and reduced national veto power have proven correct in the context of Mercosur; notes with concern: — the catastrophic impact that importing 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry into the EU would have on Irish and EU farmers, depressing prices and destabilising rural livelihoods; — that the Mercosur Trade Agreement runs entirely counter to EU and Irish climate legislation and would incentivise further deforestation, biodiversity loss and environmental destruction in Mercosur countries, particularly Brazil; and — that agricultural products imported under this agreement are frequently produced using toxic chemicals banned in the EU for decades, and the 2024 EU audit confirmed Brazil cannot reliably trace or guarantee hormone-free beef, yet the Mercosur Trade Agreement would allow exporters to self-certify compliance with EU standards; further recognises: — the grave and immediate threat posed to Irish agriculture, the environment, food safety standards and fundamental human rights by the proposed Mercosur Trade Agreement; — the enormous benefit that Irish agriculture provides to the Irish economy and its essential role in sustaining rural communities, family farms and local industries across the State; — that Irish farmers are custodians of the land, actively promoting biodiversity, protecting soil and water quality, and working to improve environmental sustainability; — that Irish agricultural produce is respected worldwide for its high quality, traceability and the rigorous standards to which it is produced; — the exceptionally high environmental, labour, animal welfare and food safety requirements placed on Irish and EU producers, that imported agri-food products must also meet if there is to be any fairness in international trade; — the need for sustainable, equitable and enforceable international trade agreements that support, rather than undermine, Irish and EU agricultural sectors and rural economies; — that tariff reductions can benefit consumers only when they are implemented in a fair, transparent and sustainable manner, and not when they create a race to the bottom on standards; — the absolute necessity that all imported products meet the same environmental, traceability and animal welfare standards as those required of producers in Ireland and across the EU; and — the various agreements, declarations and frameworks to which the Irish State is a signatory, including the Rome Declaration on World Food Security, the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework; and calls on the Government to: — immediately publish a full and detailed account of all legal, political and diplomatic actions it has taken, or intends to take, to oppose the ratification of the Mercosur Trade Agreement, and to outline definitive steps to ensure that Mercosur beef cannot enter the Irish food chain under any circumstances; — actively and publicly support the legal action taken by members of the European Parliament against the ratification of the Mercosur Trade Agreement; — mandate all their party Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to vote against the Mercosur Trade Agreement, and launch an urgent diplomatic initiative to build a blocking minority among like-minded EU member states; and — engage immediately and directly with other MEPs across the political spectrum to urge them to reject the agreement, and to work with civil society, farming organisations and environmental groups to build a broad coalition of opposition at EU level. I understand I am sharing with other Members. The reason we are here this evening, as the Minister is aware, is that the Mercosur trade agreement is detrimental to Irish agriculture, the people who live in rural Ireland and people who live across the entire island of Ireland and across the European Union because of the detrimental impact it will have on food safety. Food safety is primary in all of this. We see product coming in from Mercosur countries which is well below the standard we expect Irish or European farmers to meet. For that reason, we are totally opposed to the Mercosur trade agreement. Our motion this evening calls out the Government on its inaction in respect of this. On the one hand, the Government has suggested it is opposed to the deal but, on the other, it does not do anything to block or stop it when it goes to Europe. It had ample opportunity over recent years to build an alliance with other countries across Europe to block it. It failed to do so. I will bring the Minister of State back to July 2019, when Sinn Féin had a motion to oppose the Mercosur trade agreement here in the Dáil. The then Government, a Fine Gael Government, tabled an amendment to it making a nonsense of it. That amendment was actually defeated and the Dáil gave a mandate to the then Government and subsequent ones to build alliances with other parties and countries across Europe to block the deal. They utterly failed to do so. We can see this from the utterances of the current Government in recent weeks. At every turn, it has spoken about the positives of the agreement and has said what can come from it that could be good. It has said it could be good for other sectors and referred to there being safeguards in place. All of this is a simple and total betrayal of the Irish agriculture sector and European consumers. We recognise that the whole system in place for trade deals requires a vote in every parliament. What happened in this case, however, was that the proposed agreement was split into two parts so this would not happen. There is a challenge to go to the EU in respect of that. What we are doing this evening is calling out the Irish Government on its complicity in all this. We also recognise that we have to have a commitment from the Government to publish the political, diplomatic and legal steps it has taken to block the Mercosur trade agreement. It should prove it has done what it has claimed to have done over recent months, because the reality is that nobody believes it has done anything. Now we are left with an agreement that is going to go through. Only at the last minute, when the Irish Government recognised a majority was going to vote in favour of it and that a blocking minority was not going to be in place, did it turn heel and decide it was going to vote against it. The day before, when the Taoiseach was in China, he more or less said to everyone that Ireland was going to vote for it. How can the Government be so wishy-washy in here and tell us it is going to Europe to do the opposite of what it has been suggesting? Nobody believes it. That is reality and it is why we have this motion this evening and are calling on the Government to work with other countries and put pressure on all the MEPs across Europe to vote against the Mercosur trade agreement when it is before the European Parliament and build alliances everywhere we can to block it to protect the livelihoods of Irish farmers. The Government often mentions that only 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of chicken will come in. The reality is that this is the door slightly opened. The next time there is a crisis in Europe, owing to disease or something else, we will see the floodgates opened and more and more inferior product coming in from Mercosur countries. For these reasons, we simply have to hold the Government to account. It did not play the game fairly. It pretended it was opposed to the deal when in reality, and as everyone knows, it worked hand in glove with its friends in Europe to get it through, basically for Micheál Martin to look good to Ursula von der Leyen. That is what is happening here, and everyone knows it. We are here this evening to discuss this motion. I have read the Government’s counter-motion. It is a self-congratulatory fairytale pretending the Government has done this, that and the other to protect Irish farmers and Irish livelihoods and that safeguards are in place. Nobody believes anything has been done effectively to build an alliance to block this Mercosur trade agreement. It was the Irish Government’s responsibility to block it but it has failed miserably and basically betrayed the Irish people, Irish consumers and Irish farmers in respect of it. That is why we have this motion this evening and why we are holding the Government to account. We saw thousands of farmers protesting over this situation in Athlone last Saturday. People are angry across the entire country. It is not just farmers and people in rural areas but also others across the entire country, because they recognise what is happening. It was the very same thing with the fisheries. The Government failed to stand up for an indigenous industry and it let it go to the wall. We simply need the Government to make the proper commitment to block the deal from here on.

I strongly welcome this motion. The Government’s last-minute decision to vote against the Mercosur deal was a cynical and opportunistic move. To take a decision only once it was certain the vote would pass shows an utter lack of political spine when it comes to standing up to the European Commission. This failure of leadership is at complete odds with the people the Government claims to represent. On Saturday, almost 30,000 people from every corner of Ireland rallied in Athlone to say “No” to Mercosur. Many of those people have supported parties like Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for generations. For what? It was for the purpose of more crumbs from the EU table just to survive and keep struggling. I do not want those in our farming community to just survive and get by; I want them to have a viable future. I say this for the next generation, for children like my boys growing up on our family farm and for every child who wants to keep up the tradition of farming and providing for communities. It is about not being forced off the land as a result of Government politics. The devastation of Mercosur will not just hit beef farmers because it will also shatter communities across rural Ireland, communities this Government has taken for granted for far too long. As we saw on Sunday, people are waking up to the Government’s false promises. Last week, the Food Safety Authority issued a recall of Brazilian beef on sale in Ireland – beef containing banned cancer-linked hormones. That recall was not a joke. The meat was tested last October and had long been bought and consumed before the warning was finally issued. How can the Minister of State expect ordinary people to have confidence in a system that allows this to happen? Is he going to stand up and tell us he is happy to buy and eat this product? God knows what is in it. Take a product I have to hand as an example and look at the labelling. It is a well-known brand, the so-called “Finders of Fine Foods”. Instead of using Irish beef, it chooses Brazilian beef, produced to standards decades behind our own. You would need a magnifying glass to read the country of origin on the back of the product. It is shameful and deceitful.

I thank the Deputy. I call Deputy McGuinness.

After all the health warnings and after seeing the evidence, would the Minister of State be happy to feed this crap to his family? He has sat on his hands for far too long. It is time to take a stand and ensure Ireland actively supports this legal challenge.

The time is the time. If Deputies eat into one another’s time, they will still only have a set time. I call Deputy McGuinness.

Sinn Féin has been clear and consistent for years in opposing the EU–Mercosur trade deal. It is bad for Irish agriculture. Farmers, exporters and rural communities are telling us that. It is also bad for food standards. Every expert is telling us that and the evidence that has already been mentioned indicates it. It is bad for rural communities. Is mar Thadhg an dá thaobh atá an Rialtas, atá ag cur an dallamullóg ar mhuintir na hÉireann agus ar an bpobal tuaithe. For years, farmers have warned the Government of the damage this deal would do to income, confidence, the future of generational farming and the brand Irish farmers and Irish Governments have worked hard to create and export around the world. They warned how it threatened to flood the European market with beef produced to standards that would be illegal here – beef linked to deforestation, weaker animal welfare rules and lower labour protection. Those warnings were dismissed by those opposite me. We were told concerns were overstated, and many Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael MEPs, TDs and Senators have been saying in the media in the past 24 hours how these concerns were overstated, but not one of them has sat here in this Chamber for this debate. That tells its own story. Not one Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael backbencher has made it their business to be here in the Chamber today. In fact, there is nobody from Fianna Fáil in the Chamber today-----

The Deputy is speaking from the Opposition. He knows how this works.

Deputies.

-----and that is telling. The Minister of State can try to dress it up how he wants but they are not here for this debate.

The Deputy can make his remarks but he does not have to-----

Now, on the eve of ratification-----

The Deputy knows-----

I did not interrupt the Minister of State and I will not interrupt him when he speaks later.

Please. Decorum.

On the eve of ratification, the Government has performed a dramatic U-turn, knowing there will be no cost to doing so for a domestic audience, to try to save face somewhat. It has suddenly claimed to oppose the deal. The members of the Government parties, including Ministers, and Irish Government representatives in Brussels previously spoke in favour of Mercosur. Let us not rewrite the record here. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been championing this deal for many years, speaking from both sides of their mouths. Nobody has changed their position on this except the Government, but we all see that the emperor has no clothes and that the about-face in the media last week was nothing more than playing to a domestic agenda. However, nobody is falling for it. Rural communities are not, nor is the Irish farming industry.

The ratification of the Mercosur trade deal represents the greatest failure of an Irish Government to protect Irish family farmers since we joined the EEC. It is a betrayal of Irish agriculture comparable to what the Common Fisheries Policy was to our fishing community. The roots of this betrayal, which is what it is, go way beyond the last week or so. The roots lie, in the first instance, in an Irish Government agreeing to a negotiating mandate at a European level. They lie in the Lisbon Treaty, which removed the ability of small states like Ireland to protect our interests in trade negotiations. Over the past decades, Sinn Féin has repeatedly called on the Government to stop this deal at times when it could have been stopped. Instead, we got deflection. Fine Gael tried and failed to block a Sinn Féin motion in this House in 2019 mandating it to call “Stop.” We even had Phil Hogan, the then Commissioner, telling Irish farmers at one stage that beef was off the table in the Mercosur talks, which was an attempt to dampen down opposition. In 2017, after I was at a private meeting in the European Parliament when the European Commission confirmed that beef was very much central to this, I called on the Government to stop the deal. Sinn Féin representatives in every single year since have been urging the Government to stop this deal. Rather than heeding those calls, the Government played an absolutely obscene game of duplicity, pretending to farmers that it was opposed to this European trade deal with the Mercosur states, and at the same time doing nothing to bring it to an end. We have had this dismal failure to answer the question that cannot actually be answered: how can you supplant beef, poultry and other products that are produced to the highest standards in the world, and replace them with beef coming from the far end of the world that is being produced at the cost of the rainforests? It says a lot about the Government Members of this House. A former Member of this House, Eamon Ryan, tells us today that we should support this deal, all the while knowing that what they are actually doing, economically, environmentally and from an agriculture perspective, is absolute madness.

This is the third motion brought forward by Sinn Féin in relation to the Mercosur deal. The Government's position was not clear here in Ireland. On Wednesday, the Taoiseach said a lot of progress had been made, and then, on Thursday, he said we were not backing Mercosur. We had our motion last month in this Chamber, when the Minister for agriculture refused to categorically state the Government’s opposition to this deal. If the Government’s position was not clear here in Ireland, then I would imagine it was not clear at all in Europe. Our Dáil motion in 2019 gave a clear mandate to the Government to go out to Europe to build alliances and to build a block against the Mercosur deal. That clearly did not happen. The calls that have been made in the motion brought forward this evening are very important. What we saw in Athlone on Saturday shows and tells us that the public want answers to the calls that have been made in this motion, particularly in relation to the publication of a full and detailed account of all of the actions this Government has taken at EU level - the conversations, the debates, what has been said by Ireland at a European level and what work had been done at an EU level in relation to this deal. We are asking in this motion for the Government to actively and publicly support the legal action. We need an answer tonight. Is the Government doing that or is it not? We also need to know that all Irish MEPs will be mandated to vote against Mercosur, and that the parties in government will do the same. Standards matter. It is backbreaking for Irish farmers to follow the rules, regulations, inspections and everything they have to follow to make sure they produce a quality standard, which they do. They are not the standards that are available in any of the countries in Mercosur. It is a joke to think we would allow sub-standard beef on our shelves and put our people at risk of serious breaches in food safety by allowing these items to be on our shelves. The Government needs to do the right thing by telling us what it has done and will do to block this deal.

The reality of this deal is simple. It is a sell-out. It is a sell-out of Irish farmers, our food standards and even our environmental protections. The European Commission has forced through this agreement, completely ignoring the huge cost it brings to the people of Ireland and of Europe. The cost of this deal is Irish livelihoods. Irish farmers cannot fairly compete with cheap imports from Mercosur countries with lower standards. The cost of this deal is our public health. It weakens the standard of food within the EU by allowing imports produced with EU-banned pesticides, hormones and antibiotics. What is it for? It is to increase the profits of giant businesses. This has been a catastrophic failure by the Government. It has to see that. The Government should have been there to protect Irish farmers and protect Irish people. It has failed to do that by failing to stand up against Mercosur. This agreement was not sprung on us. An Teachta Kerrane has just outlined how this has been raised in the Chamber numerous times, and an Teachta Carthy spoke about how this has been talked about for decades. It was not sprung on us. There has been a long-standing campaign against Mercosur, rightly so. As a nation, we are proud of our beef. Our beef is known around the world for being of very high quality. That did not come about by accident. It comes down to the hard work of farmers for generations, and not just their hard work, but their passion and their pride in their produce. Irish farmers adhere to the highest standards when it comes to traceability, animal welfare and environmental standards, and they do so willingly to ensure the best quality. Then, what happens? The Government does not stand up to protect that. It does not have that same pride in our beef, in our standards and in our quality. We know that the same traceability and regulation are just not there when it comes to Mercosur countries. Beef is produced using hormones and antibiotics that are simply banned in the EU. It is not a level playing field for our farmers, and it is not right for our people. The Government has failed our farmers but, equally, it has failed our people. For those who do not think this is related to them, the environmental damage is catastrophic. It is related to public health, environmental standards and common decency.

I attended the protest in Athlone on Saturday. It was a very powerful demonstration and reflection of what the people think of this deal. People travelled from all across Ireland to be there. It was a clear message that this deal will impact everyone, urban and rural alike, particularly when it comes to food safety, food security and fairness. The day before the deal was agreed, the Government claimed that it was voting against it, but let us be honest: it did it because it knew it was going through anyway. It was safe to say “No” because it had already failed to do the work when it actually mattered. In the programme for Government, the Government committed to building an alliance across Europe to form a blocking minority but it utterly failed to do that. Despite numerous warnings over many years from Irish farming organisations, environmental experts and Sinn Féin, it did not do enough. Irish farmers and consumers will pay the price for that failure. We need a full, detailed account of every legal, political and diplomatic action this Government has taken or failed to take in relation to the Mercosur trade deal. I spoke to people in Athlone on Saturday, including farmers from County Clare. They want a level playing field. That does not exist under Mercosur. There is no meaningful regulation and no proper traceability. They do not even tag their cattle. The rebranding of this deal as a so-called partnership agreement is undemocratic. Member states must have the right to debate and vote on this in their national parliaments. Allowing exporters to self-certify compliance with the EU standards, while Irish farmers are held to the highest standards of animal welfare, traceability, regulation and environmental protection, is fundamentally unjust. The Government must actively work to maximise opposition to this deal among MEPs and finally block Mercosur for Irish farmers, rural communities, our environment, food safety and food security.

Before I call the Minister of State, I remind Members that under Salient Ruling 342, the production of exhibits or displays, such as newspapers, postcards, placards or anything like that, is strongly not recommended. I call the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes the vote of the European Union (EU) member states on 9th January, which accepted by a qualified majority the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement; and recognises that: — every effort was undertaken by the Government to work with like-minded EU member states who shared concerns with the Mercosur agreement to stand up for Irish farmers and defend our interests in opposing the Mercosur Trade Agreement; and — Government Ministers, including the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence have worked extensively with fellow EU ministers to make changes to the Mercosur Trade Agreement, but the improvements made unfortunately were not acceptable to the Government; further recognises that: — following the initial Mercosur Trade Agreement, which was agreed in 2019, the then Government and other EU governments expressed strong objections to the agreement, and required the EU and Mercosur to return to the negotiation table; — in 2024, the EU and Mercosur agreed an additional legal instrument on trade and sustainability commitments; — in October 2025, the European Commission (EC) responded to the demands of Ireland and other concerned member states by presenting a number of flanking measures to address the concerns of the agriculture sector; — these additional measures included: — a 'safeguards' measure to protect against a surge in import volumes, or price falls in the EU; — a financial safety net for farmers; — strengthened sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls along with a 50 per cent increase in audits and checks; and — commitments on the alignment of production and SPS standards, notably on pesticides and animal welfare; — the EC has also proposed additional flexibility in the EU budget and to enhance the availability of Common Agricultural Policy funding for farmers and rural communities; and notes that while the additional commitments are welcome, on balance, the Government considered they are not sufficient to satisfy the concerns of Irish farmers and citizens; and welcomes, in line with the firm commitment in the Programme for Government that the Government voted against the adoption of the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement." I want to be absolutely clear. The Government rejects entirely the arguments and positions put forward in the Sinn Féin motion before the Dáil and, indeed, the contributions from the Sinn Féin Deputies heretofore. The motion does not reflect the reality of what the Government has done, nor does it acknowledge the sustained, serious and good-faith efforts undertaken by Government Ministers, officials and diplomats at the European Union level, and with like-minded EU member states, to oppose the EU-Mercosur agreement and to defend the interests of Irish farmers and rural communities. I am utterly aghast at some of the revisionism coming from Deputies so far. The Government countermotion replaces assertion with fact. It sets out clearly the actions taken by the Government, the evolution in the agreement in terms of trade and sustainability commitments, the significant concessions obtained from the European Union to address the concerns of the agricultural sector and the basis on which Ireland reached its decision. It is that position I wish to place fully and clearly on the record of Dáil Éireann this evening. On 9 January, EU member states voted on the signature of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. That vote was carried by a qualified majority. Ireland voted against the adoption of the agreement. That vote was entirely consistent with the programme for Government and with the position articulated by this Government repeatedly and unambiguously over a sustained period. It is important to emphasise that this decision was not a symbolic gesture. Ireland's opposition to the EU-Mercosur agreement has been consistent and focused on ensuring the best outcome for our most vulnerable sectors, both in our efforts to achieve a blocking minority and in our work to seek out supports and protections for our farmers in the event the agreement would ultimately be adopted. Crucially, Ireland did not stand alone and shout from the sidelines. The Sinn Féin Deputy who criticised Government and Opposition Members' absence is himself absent having made that assertion. One has to worry about when to take people seriously in this Chamber. Every effort was undertaken by the Government to work with like-minded member states which shared our concerns about the agreement. Who else voted against this? France, Austria, Poland and Hungary. The Belgians abstained. Our objective throughout was to stand up for Irish farmers, to protect the rural economy and to ensure that Ireland's voice was heard clearly and credibly at EU level. Government Ministers engaged extensively with EU counterparts. That engagement was sustained over time and took place across multiple forums: European Council meetings, sectoral Council meetings, bilateral engagements and direct dialogue with the European Commission, including during a focused visit by trade Commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, in October last year. The purpose of that broad-based engagement was twofold - first, to attempt to build a blocking minority of member states and second, to seek substantive changes and safeguards that would meaningfully address Ireland's concerns. That work was done seriously and persistently. It represents the kind of diplomacy that a small, influential member state must practice if it is to defend its interests effectively within the European Union. That is something this Government and Irish Governments of every fold can look back throughout our membership of the European Union and point to real actual wins over time. That effort matters and it is entirely ignored in the Sinn Féin motion. The lack of real assessment and objective analysis of the work that goes in at EU level sticks in my craw. It is also essential to situate this debate in the wider context of Ireland's approach to trade. Trade is not an abstract concept for this country. It is central to our economic model, to our employment base and to the living standards of our people in urban and in rural communities. Ireland is an open, outward-facing economy. Our prosperity has not been built on natural resources or protectionism but on the talent of our people, on innovation, on high-quality agricultural production and on our ability to compete in global markets. Deputy Farrell was right when she said that Irish beef is world-known. It is known because of the consistent effort to go on trade missions to get access to markets such as the reopening of the Chinese market to Irish beef this week. Our membership of the European Union is fundamental to that success. It amplifies our influence and allows us to shape trade agreements that reflect EU values and standards. Through the EU, Ireland has benefited from a network of free trade agreements that have opened markets, supported exports and reinforced high standards in areas such as food safety, animal and plant health, environmental protection, labour rights and sustainability. For a country that exports approximately 90% of the food and drink we produce, trade is indispensable. Deputy Carthy gave the game away. Sinn Féin has opposed every single EU trade deal and has voted and campaigned against every single European treaty since the referendum in 1972 on Ireland joining the then EEC. Sinn Féin is a Eurosceptic party. It always has been. It got a bit woolly on it during the Brexit years when it thought it might be able to back it but its true colours are showing and it is trying to catch up with people who have been criticising it for its lack of consistency on the European front. However, openness is very clear; it has never meant naivety. The Government has always been clear that trade policy must be balanced. Supporting open, rules-based trade does not mean supporting every trade agreement in any form, regardless of its distributional impact or its consequences for vulnerable sectors. The Irish Government has consistently shown this. We have backed the trade deals that have been beneficial to Ireland and we have worked on trade deals to improve them and make them even more beneficial to crucial sectors. That balance between opportunity and protection and between competitiveness and sustainability has been at the heart of the Government's approach to the EU-Mercosur agreement. Ireland's concerns about the EU-Mercosur agreement are long-standing and well documented. Following the initial political agreement reached in 2019, the then Government, alongside other EU governments, expressed strong objections and insisted that the EU and Mercosur return to the negotiating table. Those objections were grounded in substance, not ideology. They reflected concerns about the impact on sensitive agricultural sectors, about the enforceability of sustainability commitments and about the fairness of exposing EU farmers to increased competition from producers operating under different regulatory and environmental regimes. As a result of sustained pressure from Ireland and others, further negotiations took place. In December 2024, the EU and Mercosur agreed an additional legal instrument on trade and sustainability commitments. That represented progress but the Government was clear that progress alone would not be enough. What mattered was whether the final package, taken as a whole, adequately addressed Ireland's core concerns, particularly those of Irish farmers and rural communities. In October 2025, following continued advocacy by Ireland and other concerned member states, the European Commission presented a set of flanking measures aimed at addressing agricultural concerns. These measures were not incidental. They were the direct consequence of member states insisting that agriculture could not simply be treated as collateral damage in a broader trade deal. Those measures included a safeguard mechanism to protect against surges in import volumes or significant price falls in the EU market; an enhanced financial safety net for farmers; strengthened sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, controls, including a commitment to increase audits and checks by 50%; and commitments on the alignment of production and SPS standards, particularly in relation to pesticides and animal welfare. The Commission also proposed additional flexibility within the EU budget and enhanced availability of Common Agricultural Policy funding for farmers and rural communities in the context of the next multi-annual financial framework. Ireland has been absolutely clear that CAP must remain a central pillar of the European Union and must be adequately resourced to reflect the cumulative pressures facing farmers, from market volatility to climate obligations to regulatory change. The Government welcomes these additional commitments and acknowledges that they represent a genuine response to concerns raised by Ireland and others but welcoming progress does not require us to suspend judgment or to ignore remaining risks. On balance, the Government concluded that the package of measures did not sufficiently mitigate the risks to Irish agriculture or to the rural economy but we consistently worked to try to achieve a package of measures. The Sinn Féin motion tonight, in line with its motion in 2019, proposes we would remove ourselves from any negotiations, simply accept what is presented and just put in our vote but that is not how the EU or qualified majority voting works. If the Deputies opposite do not know it, they should know. The conclusion made by the Irish Government was reached following detailed examination, consultation with stakeholders and engagement with like-minded member states. It was not predetermined and it was not ideological. The Sinn Féin motion fails to acknowledge that reality, that governing requires ongoing analysis, engagement with a variety of stakeholders and careful, balanced decision-making. The EU-Mercosur agreement is viewed by many member states and by the Commission as a strategic instrument in a changing and uncertain global trade environment. Ireland understands that context and has engaged with it seriously and responsibly. However, strategic considerations cannot override the lived reality of Irish farming families or the structure of the Irish rural economy. Indeed that message was delivered loud and clear by the large numbers of farmers and farming families who attended the rally in Athlone over the weekend and countless other meetings and engagement with every single member of the Government parties. The Government recognises that agriculture in Ireland is not just an economic sector; it is a social and regional foundation. Irish farmers operate to some of the highest standards in the world, and it is neither fair nor sustainable to expose them to increased competition from imports produced under different conditions without adequate safeguards. That is why, in line with the programme for Government commitment, Ireland voted against the signature of the EU-Mercosur agreement. That vote reflects a consistent, credible and principled position. It supports open and fair trade. It values Ireland's membership of the European Union. It recognises that the agreement will undoubtedly benefit other sectors of the economy but it refuses to accept a deal where the risks to agriculture and rural Ireland have not been adequately addressed.

I welcome the farmers who are in the Gallery this evening. Nobody is buying it. For years the Government sat on the fence about whether it would support or oppose the Mercosur trade deal when it came to a vote. Not until the day before a vote was due, when thousands of farmers were organising to take to the streets and when it knew the deal was going to pass anyway, did it finally come out and say it was against this deal. In the time it was dithering, it failed to build a blocking minority with other EU member states and now Irish farmers are left to deal with the consequences of that failure and the likelihood of the deal passing. The deal opens the door further to a substandard product, directly threatens our beef industry and family farms, and puts food safety and security at risk. The Government needs to give a full account of the actions it has taken. The amendment and the Minister of State's speech have not set that out, as has been claimed. The motion is an opportunity for the Government to finally take action. The Minister of State said he would voice concerns but he has avoided the key questions, and deliberately so. If it really opposes the Mercosur trade deal, will the Government whip all its MEPs to vote against it? Will it engage with MEPs from across the EU to vote against it? Will it support the legal action being taken to stop the ratification of this trade deal? These are the questions the Minister of State must answer tonight. The motion outlines the practical steps that can be taken at this late stage to stop this disastrous deal. There will not be a level playing field for Irish farmers, who follow the highest standards in food production, sustainability and traceability. Even at this late stage, the Government must do everything in its power to oppose the Mercosur deal. I call on the Government to support the motion and finally stand up for Irish agriculture.

I commend all the farmers who turned up in Athlone last weekend. I also commend the members of the public not involved in farming who turned up to support them. They are just as concerned - entirely rightly concerned - about what the Mercosur deal will mean for them as consumers. They are asking a simple and reasonable question: how will they know where the food they put on their table comes from, what it contains and if it meets the same standards as Irish produce? That concern and lack of confidence was compounded by the shameful conduct of the Government, which, at the eleventh hour, sought to position itself in opposition to the Mercosur deal. That last-minute grandstanding amounted to nothing more than thumbing its nose at Irish farmers who had been warning about the damage of this deal for years. Food imported from Mercosur countries must be clearly and prominently labelled as such. It cannot be buried in fine print or disguised by clever marketing to mislead consumers. Inferior Mercosur food cannot continue to be hidden behind Irish-sounding brand names, images of green fields or packaging that implies local origin when, in fact, it has travelled thousands of kilometres. That is misleading, unethical and deeply unfair to consumers who want transparency and to farmers who are consistently held to the highest standards. Existing EU food labelling law is clear in its intent. Consumers must not be misled. The information must be accurate, clear and easy to understand. Those principles must be robustly enforced and strengthened. Does the Minister of State support imported Mercosur food being prominently labelled as such? Ireland should lead from the front on clean, transparent food standards. Consumers do not want vague reassurances or last-minute theatrics. They want real action that protects them and their families and supports Irish producers. They deserve that, not more spin from the Irish Government.

As stated by my colleagues, the Mercosur deal is a deal with consequential pitfalls that far outweigh the notion that, somehow, Irish farmers and poultry farmers will be better off. Let us face it, in that the trade-off for cars and pharmaceuticals is at the core of this anti-farmer deal. Make no mistake about it. The Government's handling of Mercosur was feeble and weak. It only decided to vote against it in the dying moments when backbenchers and some Ministers of State revolted and the Italians capitulated. Commissioner von der Leyen and the EU are not playing with a full deck of cards either. Their political manoeuvring to change the Mercosur agreement from an associate to a partnership agreement was a coercive manipulation of the democratic process that removed the power of each nation to vote individually for or against the deal. We believe this is a breach of EU treaties. This must be challenged. We ask the Government to stand by rural communities and farmers and to mandate its MEPs to vote against this bad deal. The importation of 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry will depress the markets and introduce unregulated meat of lower quality, with a high risk of banned pesticides, hormones and antibiotics entering the nation's diet. Combine this with 75,000 ha of rainforest wiped out in 2025 alone, and much more to come, destroying the lungs of the Earth and trampling on indigenous people and their way of life. Surely these actions will lead to a huge carbon footprint, increased climate change and, most of all, depletion of our beef and poultry sectors. We call on the Government to mandate its parties' MEPs to vote against this anti-farmer deal, to publicly and fully support the legal action taken by MEPs and to stop ratification of the Mercosur trade deal before we realise the true meaning of Oscar Wilde's quote. Nowadays, we know the price of everything but the value of nothing. I call on all Members to support the motion.

The Government is very much out of step with the farmers in my constituency, Wicklow-Wexford, who marched in Athlone on Saturday. The Government could have stopped Mercosur but never made any effort to block it over the 25 years it was in the making. There was no real effort to reach out to other countries to form a blocking minority. Just before Christmas, Sinn Féin had a Private Members' Bill in the Chamber. Ministers refused to state then whether they were opposed to it. The eleventh-hour vote against the rotten deal was welcome but ultimately meaningless. Many people saw it is a cynical manoeuvre. The Government waited in a cowardly manner until Italy had changed course before opposing it. I say "oppose" in inverted commas because it has now made it very difficult to defeat. It is still possible but, due to Government inaction over the years, it is an uphill battle, with us having just 14 MEPs out of 720 in the European Parliament. Sinn Féin has been opposing Mercosur on this side of the House for years. We had a motion in the Chamber seven years ago on it. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were never really opposed to it. The Government signed us up to the Lisbon treaty, which removed Ireland's veto on trade. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil signed us up to a negotiating mandate that allowed the European Commission to negotiate this rotten deal, knowing full well it would have negative consequences for Ireland. It is bad for anyone who eats beef or chicken, bad for farmers and bad for the environment. As Deputy Carthy mentioned, Phil Hogan deceived the people, stating beef was off the table in negotiations when it clearly was not. It became in the end a battle between Irish beef and German beamers and we know which takes precedence for von der Leyen. The Government has one last opportunity to redeem itself in the coming weeks. It can outline the steps it intends to take to stop Mercosur beef entering the Irish food chain alongside Irish meat, which is the best in the world. Will it support the legal action? Will it mandate its MEPs to oppose this deal? Will it actively engage with other MEPs to do so?

Destabilising rural livelihoods is not fair trade. It is a race to the bottom. What has happened with Mercosur is not right. We all understand trade and the necessities of it but I come from a rural community in Mayo and see the promises that have been made. We were told me must stand back and look at it in the wider context but I see what was done over the years going back to the EU directive in 1997, where farmers were promised and promised. They were promised they would be compensated in relation to designations. Where does that leave us today? There was no compensation for designations. In not only the designated areas but also the buffer zones, there are real questions of property rights. People cannot build on their own land as it is. The Government has not opposed Mercosur in the way it needed to do. It has not stood up or made alliances in the EU. What has happened is a bypass of national vetoes and sidelining of national parliaments. It undermines democratic oversight. There are much bigger consequences of what has happened. There is food security. My God, look at the geopolitical situation at the moment. Food security is something people depend on. This is much more than just a farming matter; it is a matter for everybody living in this country. That is why we have said "No" to Mercosur right from the beginning. When we were told beef was taken off the table, we knew it was never taken off the table. It has to be "No" to Mercosur. I listened intently to the Taoiseach again today. Even at this late stage, there are steps that can be taken by the Government. Take back the power and stand up for rural and farm communities.

At the outset, this debate is not about opposing free trade, nor is it about pretending that Europe can insulate itself from a volatile global economy. In an era with political instability and the imposition of US tariffs on the European Union, international trade agreements matter. They are important and can be beneficial, but importance alone is not enough. When we examine the Mercosur deal, we have to ask whether it stands up to the values and obligations that Ireland and the wider European Union claim to uphold, in particular on climate action and environmental protection. Europe talks a great deal about climate leadership, but too often that statement is not matched by action. Across the EU, in particular in some of the dominant political groups in the European Parliament, we are seeing environmental protections being treated as if they are expendable and something that can be bargained away. That is why environmental standards embedded in the Mercosur agreement give real cause for concern. When it comes to deforestation, biodiversity loss and climate enforcement, the protections simply do not meet the standards we expect or that apply in the European Union itself. If the deal is to proceed, we need some stronger, firmer and enforceable guarantees. While I acknowledge that there are safeguards in the deal, will they be enforceable? This debate is not just an agricultural one, but a political, environmental and ethical one. The agreement affects far more than one sector and demands a far more rigorous analysis than it has received. Crucially, the environmental enforcement mechanisms in the deal may not be robust enough to withstand political backsliding. If there is a change of government in a Mercosur country, a Bolsonaro-type election or we return to a political climate with hostility to environmental protection, as we are seeing happen in other countries, the safeguards in the agreement may not hold. Are they strong enough to prevent renewed deforestation or environmental degradation? In a political climate where climate change is already not taken seriously enough, including in some trade policies, if climate and environmental protection are not central to the deal then the deal is, quite simply, a problem. Caution is not obstruction. Scrutiny is not rejection. Proceeding without adequate guarantees across all trade sectors would be a failure of responsibility. While the debate in Ireland has centred heavily on beef, I want to speak on behalf of family farmers across Ireland, some in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, in particular, with regard to the very real and damaging impact the Mercosur deal may have on the future of farming in this country. Family farms are already under enormous pressure. Farmers face ever-growing burdens of rules, regulations and inspections. The payments many families depend on are constantly under threat of being reduced or withdrawn if even minor requirements are not met. Compliance and running costs are rising year on year, while family incomes continue to fall behind the cost of living. At the same time, they will be asked under Mercosur to compete with beef imports from countries such as Brazil where production standards, inspections and regulations are not at the same level as those imposed on Irish farmers. It costs significantly less to produce beef in these countries, not because they are more efficient, but because they are not held to the same environmental, animal welfare and food safety standards, and that is why enforcement needs to reflect this. This creates an uneven playing field. Cheaper, lower standard beef will enter the European market and inevitably compete directly with high-quality Irish beef. In today's cost-of-living crisis, consumers will push towards the cheaper option regardless of quality. That threatens farm incomes, rural communities and the reputation of Irish agriculture. For many farmers, the question is no longer how to grow their business but how to survive. For the next generation, the outlook may be even bleaker. Why would a young person take over the family farm when they cannot be guaranteed a living wage? Why would a farmer encourage their son or daughter to stay in the industry when there are such poor prospects for the future? Mercosur may make a difficult situation worse. If we continue down this road, we risk losing the family farm model that is the heart of rural Ireland. That would be a devastating loss, not just economically but also socially and culturally. Ireland cannot continue to demand world-leading standards from its farmers and ask farmers to do more and more in terms of their climate obligations while simultaneously undermining them through trade deals that fail to protect their livelihoods. Our farmers deserve respect, fairness and a future. I want to be clear; this deal and debate go far beyond agriculture. There are benefits for Ireland in other areas but we cannot sacrifice one sector to advance another. While I back the farming community and their concerns about this deal, I take issue with some of the wording in the motion. Looking to the figures, trade policy is a competency of the EU. The EU has a population of 450 million and is the world's second-largest economic area. That brings with it more weight when negotiating with a block of 270 million people in Mercosur countries. We do not have to run a hypothetical on this; we can look next door to the sunlit uplands of Brexit and the trade deals the United Kingdom has done that will affect its farmers over the next ten years. While I support the motion, euroscepticism, that very British phenomenon, has no place here.

On 9 January, the Taoiseach, Deputy Martin, declared that Ireland could not support a deal where imported beef came from production systems that were not as carbon efficient and did not have the same stringent standards as Irish agriculture. He declared this as if this news had fallen from the sky. It was known for years, yet the Government failed miserably to garner support to ensure that sufficient numbers were available to defeat this proposal in the EU. As part of the programme for Government, the coalition committed to work with like-minded EU countries to stand for Irish farmers and defend our interests in opposing the current Mercosur trade deal. Irish MEPs have for years highlighted the public health risks of allowing large volumes of beef produced under looser pesticide and veterinary rules into the EU market. Even after proposed EU safeguards, the Government said it still had insufficient confidence in the measures to protect food standards, yet it could not manage to convince enough of our colleagues in Europe of this. The rest of Europe seemed content to have substandard food safety and standards and allow hormones into their food chains. Environmental groups and Irish political figures argued for years that the deal could incentivise further deforestation in South America to expand cattle production. We are being told that we will have to cut our national herd, but Brazil will be allowed to increase its national herd by 28 million by 2034. As the motion states, the Mercosur trade agreement runs entirely counter to EU and Irish climate legislation and would incentivise further deforestation, biodiversity loss and environmental destruction in Mercosur countries, in particular Brazil. This deal creates a double standard. Irish farmers face strict climate rules while competing with imports produced under weaker environmental protections. This totally contradicts EU climate ambitions and also undermines Ireland's commitments to sustainable agriculture. This deal is undoubtedly a threat to the economic fabric of rural communities that rely heavily on beef and livestock. As part of the programme for Government, the coalition committed to work with like-minded EU countries to stand up for Irish farmers and defend our interests in opposing the current Mercosur trade deal, yet the week before Christmas, the IFA called on the Taoiseach, Deputy Martin, to clarify whether he had done some backroom deal with Ursula von der Leyen to back Mercosur and sell out Irish beef and poultry farmers such was its level of suspicion about the Government's stance on Mercosur. Other sectors will benefit, of course, but none of these sectors will seek to send substandard products to South America, be they tech, pharma or whatever else. We also have the issue of workers' rights in South America. The Government must oppose this.

The Labour Party will support the motion from Sinn Féin. I thank Deputy Martin Kenny for bringing it forward. I stood on the floor of the Dáil with my colleague, Deputy Lawlor, when Deputy Kenny brought a motion on the Mercosur trade deal forward on 18 November. It is a shame that we have to speak about it again in the Chamber. It is one of the most important trade agreements that will ever happen in this country. The Mercosur agreement, which has been pushed aggressively by Fine Gael's European People's Party, would throw Irish farmers to the wolves. It would open the door to 99,000 tonnes of South American beef entering the European market, directly undercutting Irish producers which already operate on tight margins and have to meet the highest standards in the world. Irish farming is the standard bearer for production and quality of produce. Irish farmers have made strenuous efforts to reduce their carbon footprints in line with Government policy and are doing their best to help us meet our legally binding climate targets. They have rightful concerns about their livelihoods and the value of their produce under this proposed deal. I am concerned about the impact that an inadequately regulated market for beef from South America will have on workers' rights and also on the environment in Mercosur countries. We must be cognisant of workers' rights in all trade deals, no matter where in the world they are. What should benefit workers in Europe should benefit workers in South America. The agricultural and farming sector holds a particular importance in rural Ireland. Our local economies have grown around the sector. Traditionally, local supermarkets were established to provide services and produce products for local people who were employed in creameries, co-ops and State agencies. Those of us who live and have grown up in rural Ireland know well the importance of agriculture. While rural economies have grown and diversified, we know the vital role agriculture has in our local economies. I have serious concerns about this deal, as do many people throughout the country. We are talking about cheap importation. The deal does not meet the EU's green and food safety standards. While it does include commitments on the environment, including to prevent further deforestation after 2030, Friends of the Earth have called this deal "climate-wrecking", stating it would lead to increased deforestation as Mercosur countries would sell far more produce and raw materials sourced from forest areas, including the Amazon.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. This is a very important and timely debate. A huge number of people are very worried about the Mercosur deal. I am sure the Minister of State is well aware of the large number of people who attended the meeting at the weekend to express their concern about what could potentially happen to them and their families in the future. They are also extremely disappointed with the Government and how it has handled this issue from the get-go. It has been said a number of times that Ireland could have stopped the Mercosur deal. I do not know if that is the case. We are a small country. What I can say is that Ireland could have tried much harder to work with like-minded countries to try to put a halt to this deal. It is nearly a year since I first asked the Minister whether Ireland would formally submit its opposition to the deal. Following that question, I regularly asked what countries the Minister was working with and who he was talking to? We knew there were a number of like-minded countries and a number of countries that may have been on the fence. From this side of the House, it seemed nothing was happening and there was no robust attempt by the Government to form alliances. That is what people find most frustrating. For the past year, and prior to that because this has been an issue for many years, people saw a lack of action on the part of the Government. During that time, they repeatedly called for support and help and for the Government to stand with them, only to see the Government's U-turn just before Christmas. That smacks of performative politics. It appears there was a lightbulb moment just before Christmas when the Government realised this was a big issue and people were not going to stand for it. At that stage, the Government decided to take a very small measure to try to tell people it was on their side all along. People will not fall for that. Farmers and environmentalists will not fall for it. Indeed, families who are struggling to feed their families high-quality produce at the moment will not fall for it because this does not just impact farmers, as the Minister of State is well aware. It is not just an issue for beef farmers or poultry farmers. It is an issue when it comes to health standards, toxins and how food is produced and it is an issue from an environmental perspective. The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, spoke about trade. Trade is really important. I get that the world is difficult and fractious at the moment and I understand the real urgency and need for Europe to come together, have this trade deal and show strength on a global front. It is, however, even more important during these very difficult global political periods that we hold to our standards. It is important that we have standards, whether for our farmers, workers and communities or for animal health and welfare and the environment, and that we hold to those standards. Unfortunately, this trade deal does not do that. What we are seeing is that Ireland, as a small player in the broader European economic framework, is being sacrificed and farmers here are being sacrificed in order to get this deal through. I also believe farmers and indigenous communities in Brazil are being sacrificed to get this deal through. That is not good enough. I said this in the previous debate and I think it stands true. As the Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries, Deputy Dooley will be well aware of the legacy our fishermen and marine sector have had to deal with because of mistakes that were made and sovereignty that was given away during the negotiations on the Common Fisheries Policy. A similar type of deal was done then. Ireland was told that if it gave access to its seas and fish, the European Economic Community would support Ireland and give it money to build its roads. That was a trade deal and we lost out hugely as a result. I see this as being a similar sacrifice that Ireland is expected to make at the table of the European Union and its trade ambitions. In ten or 15 years' time, parliamentarians in this House will be asking how the hell did we sign up to this. The downsides to this deal are so great at this stage that we cannot accept it. I cannot see it being changed or made better at all. I have concerns about whether some deal was done in relation to the derogation. This issue has been mentioned a few times. Obviously, when it comes to trade, there are negotiations and countries have a certain amount of leverage. I fear that we have seen another situation where beef farmers are the poor second cousins of dairy. I want to put that on the record. A significant amount of political capital was spent fighting for the derogation. We are the only country to get it. I am just wondering what we gave up in order to get it. I know that, as a country, we gave up our water quality. That is the unfortunate reality. Hopefully, my fear is not correct but I think it is the case. I wonder what we gave up as a State. I think we gave up our beef and poultry sectors. That is a very unfortunate way to be. I absolutely agree with the Sinn Féin calls. Aontú has an amendment as well. It is important that Deputies of all parties vote against this deal and that the Government continue to strongly fight it. It is not over yet. There is still an opportunity to actually make a change with this. I ask that the Minister of State do so.

Is mian liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le Sinn Féin as an rún a chur os comhair an Tí. I also voice my dismay at the delay by the Government in reaching this decision. This is not the first time this coalition has struggled to make decisions in a timely manner. Unfortunately, there are many issues facing this country that need to be sorted out and this is one example. I am a TD for Dublin South-Central, which I know is not the farming centre of this country. However, I too want to use my voice because many of my constituents have contacted me and asked me to use my voice to show opposition to this deal. They have a number of concerns around protecting farmers. I believe there are farmers in the Gallery. They probably passed through Dublin South-Central on the way. They are all very welcome. We really want to support them. The concern is for the farmers. It is about beef farmers and the 900,000 tonnes of beef that will be allowed to come in to the EU from Mercosur. It is about the 180,000 tonnes of poultry that will be sent to the EU over the next five years. Given that poultry is not heavy, that is a lot of poultry. It is about how this will affect farmers who already struggle. That is a concern my constituents have. My constituents are also worried about animal welfare. They are particularly worried about the use of antibiotics and hormones, all those things that, for the most part, are banned over here. I read in an RTÉ report last week that the Department of agriculture was notified by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland in December that there was an issue with 128 kg of beef, basically because it had a growth hormone. That beef was sent over here, then up to Northern Ireland and then down here. That is an issue. We are very strict in Ireland about what can be used with regard to hormones, growth hormones and antibiotics. Is that going to slip now because of this deal? That is not good enough. It is not good enough for the animals. We have strict measures on farms here. Those cost producers and farmers a lot of money and if they are being undermined, it is not acceptable. The constituents who contact me are asking why the Government could not make a decision on this deal and if there was a commitment in the programme for Government, why the Government wasted time. Why did the Government not build alliances with EU partner countries that objected to the deal, such as Poland, France and others? Why did it leave it to the last minute to challenge the deal, leaving it now scrambling at the end? Forward planning is important from an environmental and animal welfare point of view, but also for our homegrown farmers and how we support them. Let this be a lesson to the Government that when it has to make decisions it is not faffing around trying to figure out what is going on. I was very interested to hear what my colleague Deputy Whitmore said. We need clarity and leadership on issues such as this. I thank the Minister of State very much. Hello to everybody in the Gallery.

The Mercosur deal is a great example of the Government again putting EU demands over the wants and needs of our own citizens. It is yet another example of the Government completely failing to do the right thing and then, embarrassingly, trying to save face at the last minute. The Government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do the right thing for its own citizens. The reality is that it knew this deal would go through anyway, so it voted "No". It did so to save face and it decided to do so when it was obvious the deal had been done. It was a last-minute desperate attempt to save face because it knew the public was turning. There was no attempt by the Government to make the case against the Mercosur deal in Europe or to convince other countries to vote against it or use our voice. Rural communities will be left to carry this burden. The deal is an attack on Irish agriculture. Our rural communities have been completely undermined. We have the best food standards, animal welfare protections and climate commitments. These are going to be thrown into the rubbish when the Mercosur deal comes in. Our farmers are being punished. What is coming down the line is nothing but a travesty. Our fishing industry is also being bled dry by Europe. In Ireland, we hold 12% of EU waters and we are allocated less than 6% of the fishing quota. The new fishing quota saw us lose one third of that. This will also happen to the Irish farmer. Mark my words, when this meat comes in we are done. The Government has to stop prioritising European demands over the needs of its own citizens and consider that we are getting absolutely nothing out of Europe. It is bleeding us dry. We need to stand up and fight and we need to say "No".

When we joined the EU Single Market back in 1972, there was supposed to be free trade, but also fair trade, between the states of Europe, and all treaties since underlined that. The Single Market was sold as a level playing pitch with standards harmonised. However, with substandard products coming in from outside, it is not harmonised. The Mercosur deal completely undermines it. Farmers are having to compete with food produced to lower standards from other countries. The importation of 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of chicken, produced at lower environmental and animal health standards, will cause market distortion. We all know what that means. Irish farmers produce meat under strict rules of tag and trace and must have prescriptions for what they give to cattle. Here we have double standards. What is the justification for this? The revelations recently that Brazilian beef with banned hormones entered the Irish food chain are now being investigated by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. That should set off alarm bells. What justification is there for further destruction of the rainforest and the carbon footprint required to haul food halfway across the world to get it here when we are already producing loads of it? What is not clear is why it took the Government so long to express its opposition to the Mercosur deal. This deal has been in the making for six or seven years. Up to 24 hours prior to the vote, Micheál Martin's words were those of a man ready to vote for it. There is confusion in Government about this because Barry Andrews MEP and Regina Doherty, a Fine Gael MEP, have said they are going to vote for the deal. Former Fianna Fáil Minister Michael McGrath, now a Commissioner, welcomed the EU Council vote on Mercosur. The Government needs to get its act together and ensure that all Government MEPs vote against the Mercosur deal when it comes to the European Parliament. It should lobby MEPs of all political persuasions to form a blocking majority at EU level. In the event of the deal being passed at the European Parliament, the Government needs to act to prevent substandard beef and poultry from entering the Irish market.

After two decades of negotiation, the Mercosur agreement looks like it is a done deal for Europe. It is a bad deal for Irish farmers but it is a disaster for the environment in a world that needs to protect its Amazon forest green lung and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A central issue here is how increased demand for South American beef for export to the EU markets is going to create a demand for more land and more cattle, resulting in more jungle being felled and cleared to make way for poor-quality grazing land. If we are to listen to some of the supporters of this deal, we are told the protracted negotiations have led to a fairer outcome and sufficient safeguards to protect our environment. However, I do not see those safeguards. Indeed, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael MEPs and their respective European parties recently delayed the introduction of a vital law that would protect the Amazon rainforest, namely, the EU's deforestation regulation. This law would have forced EU companies to carry out proper due diligence to ensure they are only selling products that are absolutely guaranteed to be from non-deforested land. That law was first written in 2023. Its implementation was initially delayed from 2024 until the end of 2025. However, just six weeks ago, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael MEPs voted against its immediate implementation and have pushed back its implementation yet one more year. The Irish Government and other governments failed to stop this. At a time when we are being told there are safeguards being built into the Mercosur agreement, the actual EU law that could make a difference has been postponed for yet another year and we have no guarantee that we will see it implemented next year. This shows me that this deal does not have the adequate safeguards for the environment that we have been told it has.

The Mercosur deal is a sell-out of farmers in this country. It is a sell-out on the fight for climate action and the fight against deforestation. It is a sell-out on the protection of workers’ rights. It is a recipe for the race to the bottom and completely exposes the agenda of the big powers that dominate the European Union, which are only interested in promoting the interests of the big car manufacturers and the big multinationals at the expense of ordinary working people, small farmers and the environment. That is the truth about this deal. From an environmental point of view and the point of view of our farmers, why on earth was the European Union negotiating a deal to get 99,000 more tonnes of beef to Europe when we can produce that beef here? How does that make any sense from a climate point of view? How does it make any sense for the livelihood of our farmers? Why would it even enter into a negotiation like that, other than to serve the interests of big manufacturers like German car manufacturers that are willing to sacrifice the climate, farmers and so on in order to pursue their interests? In respect of how this connects with the Trump stuff, Venezuela is temporarily out of Mercosur but if Trump gets control - he now claims he has control of Venezuela after taking out Maduro, whatever Members may think about Maduro – he has made it clear that he wants to undermine all of those standards which the European Union claims it represents. He has asserted the right, under national security policy, to take control of South America and decide the policies of governments in South America. The EU is giving a man who has openly declared a war on climate action and all the sorts of standards that Europe says it wants to protect but does not actually protect a way in to encourage the race to the bottom. I am in favour of trade but it should be fair trade that is about levelling up rather than a race to the bottom. This is about the race to the bottom and it is a sell-out. In the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond’s speech, he is ambivalent. I hate it to say, “I told you so”, but this was the reason we opposed the qualified majority voting in the Nice treaty, the Lisbon treaty and the Single European Act. If we had not given up the right to veto these things, we would be able to do something about this. The truth is that the Government is ambivalent about this stuff. It is ambivalent because it is ideologically committed to this idea of free trade when what it should be committed to is fair trade and protecting the livelihoods of farmers, the environment and workers’ rights instead of selling out on those things.

The Mercosur deal threatens the future of Irish agriculture and Irish farm families and it harms rural communities. The European Commission concluded negotiations with the four Mercosur countries in December 2024. The deal was to be subject to the approval of national parliaments and unanimity at EU level but, in a political stroke in September 2025, the deal was split into two separate sections, meaning that national parliaments would have no say in the ratification of the deal and only a qualified majority would be required at EU level. The importation of 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry into the EU will have serious detrimental effects on Irish agriculture, and these figures are only the thin end of the wedge. This raises the appalling vista of the devastation of the Irish fishing industry. Are we seeing here the real start of the devastation of Irish agriculture? Imported agricultural products from the Mercosur countries are often produced using chemicals that have been banned in the EU. An EU audit in 2024 found that Brazil cannot reliably trace or guarantee hormone-free beef, yet the agreement will allow exporters to self-certify compliance with EU regulations. The deal effectively trades off the future of Irish agriculture and rural communities for the benefits of the export of cars, machinery, chemicals and steel to the Mercosur countries by the big European powers and economies. This is further confirmation of the erosion of Irish sovereignty. Ursula von der Leyen’s attempt to travel to South America to sign off on this deal is an insult to the elected Members of the European Parliament and seriously undermines democracy. Trust in European institutions has been seriously damaged not only by the handling of this Mercosur deal but also by the EU’s ability to manage trade partnerships arising from the genocide in Gaza. Proposed safeguards included in this deal to suspend trade cannot be taken seriously when the EU did not suspend trade with Israel despite the genocide in Gaza. Irish MEPs must be mandated to oppose this deal.

First, I salute every farmer and person, not alone farmers, who came to Athlone last Saturday. It was a credit to them. The worrying thing tonight is when I see a consultation for 30 days in a factory not far from here. It shows the signs of policy over the last number of years. A factory in a deboning hall is having a 30-day consultation. You do not have to be a professor to know what is coming out of that. Yesterday, in Brazil, soya producers said they are going back into the rainforest and forgetting about their president and what he is doing. They are going to keep at what they are at. A total of 120 kg of hormonal carcinogenic beef came into this country. What more has come in without us knowing? We should be ashamed of ourselves as a country. Someone should be accountable. There should be a case on this and every bit of it, from the unfortunate person who ate it and right through the chain, needs to be exposed. Let me give one very clear message to factories and distributors: the game is on. They will be chased up for what they are bringing into this country from third countries because it is not trusted. Would they like their sister, brother, mother, father, son or daughter to have eaten that meat? Do they want them to be eating carcinogenic meat? Do they want them to be eating meat containing has medicines that have been banned in Europe for 30 years but are not banned in Brazil? For the sake of a Mercedes, we are going to let it through. How do we go about winning the second part of this game, this dirty rotten deal? The first place to start is at home. The first place to start is in ensuring we have our team on side to win this game. Unfortunately for Fine Gael, two of them seem to be offside at the moment. Unfortunately for Fianna Fáil, one of them seems to be offside. If any Members on that side of the House decide to vote against the Government during a budget or a Bill on health, however, the big finger is out, the Whip is imposed and the Member is thrown out of the party. Is there law and order on MEPs? Are the two main parties - I welcome that they came out last week and said “No” to Mercosur - going to allow the people who are representing them in Europe with the EPP or other groupings to vote for this deal? It is time they get their house in order. Stand with the farmers in Athlone and the farmers of Ireland. I ask Members of the Government to stand with the rest of this Dáil and their own conscience. They should think about it: do they want their kids to eat stuff that can cause cancer?

An Garda Síochána estimated that 27,000 people turned up last Saturday. There were 3,750 tractors there. Thankfully, there were no incidents. These are community people who want to protect the health of people. They were not all farmers; there were business people and people who have an interest in the health of the citizens of their country. There has been serious confusion coming from the Government with regard to Mercosur. We did not have a clear picture last week. The Taoiseach was saying one thing and the Minister, Deputy Heydon, was saying another. No one knew what was going to happen until the last minute. The Government was not gathering support when it should have been doing so. We have lost the fish and the Government is almost on the verge of losing the beef and poultry along with it. Would you God damn hell wake up at the other side of that building? The bottom line is that we have 14 MEPs going out to Europe in two or three weeks' time and they have a pen to say "Yes" or a pen to say "No". The problem we have is that Seán Kelly does not know what he wants to do. He is sitting on a ditch and looking over the ditch at Mercs and perks for Ursula. We have Regina Doherty saying she is going to vote for it. We have Barry Andrews saying he is going to vote for it. In the name of God, what kind of political parties are you across the way? Have you any standards at all? Have you any respect for the people? Do you look at the thousands who turned up the other day and the concerns they have for their industry and the health of their people? The Government parties have MEPs worried about Mercs and perks. It is time to wake up. The game is over for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. If they do not use the whip on their MEPs this week then each and every one of them will be culpable for this disaster they are bringing on this country. Perhaps in his summing up the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, will tell us what Regina Doherty, Seán Kelly and Barry Andrews are doing. Are they with the people of Ireland or are they with Ursula? That is what I want to know.

Independent Ireland held a protest in Athlone where 27,000 people turned out from all across different areas around this country. Sinn Féin came. Even the Green Party came. It was not just about the farmers. They all came to support an Independent Ireland protest that was organised by Ciaran Mullooly, MEP, Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice and the Independent Ireland team. They came and supported it. I did not see People Before Profit there. I did not see the Labour Party there. I did not see the Social Democrats there. This is about the quality of food for the people of Ireland. I saw the Leas-Cheann Comhairle there and I saw other Deputies from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. They do not believe in your silence in Europe. Independent Ireland and Independents are the only ones who have been talking up in Europe for Ireland and quality foods coming into Ireland. What are the rest of you doing over there? All you have done is try to stop Independents getting on committees to talk up for Ireland. It is about time we audited committees to see what Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are saying over at the committees, and any other MEPs over there from the other parties. Have they opened their mouths or are they just over there for the dollars, sitting on their backsides and forgetting about the people in Ireland and the quality of food that needs to come into this country? That is what this is about. Independent Ireland stood up for this country and for the quality of food coming into this country. It is about time you stood up for Ireland and not for yourselves.

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "qualified majority the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement; and" and substitute the following: "calls on the Government to: — undertake a diplomatic campaign to lobby and campaign a majority of Members of the European Parliament in Europe to oppose the Mercosur Trade Agreement; — take a case to the Court of Justice of the European Union to test whether or not the Mercosur Trade Agreement conflicts with existing EU Treaties; and — ensure that the Taoiseach and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade seek in-person meetings with the leaders of all political groupings within the European Parliament in advance of any vote taking place on the matter in the EU Parliament, and to ask them to reject the Mercosur Trade Agreement; and calls on: — the EU Commission not to implement the Mercosur Trade Agreement before the European Parliament has a chance to vote on the matter; and — to oppose any importation of beef or poultry products produced at lower regulatory standards than exist in Ireland.". It is time for the Government to get off the ditch on this issue. The duplicitous attitude the Government has in relation to this is, frankly, disgusting and disrespectful. The Government is going to the ploughing championships and so on and telling farmers, "We are with you and we support you". A number of weeks ago when Sinn Féin brought a motion the Minister was unable to state what way the Government would vote on this issue. In the most important week of the year the Taoiseach was in China contemplating signing the deal. All the while the Government is saying "Well, it is in our programme for Government". It means absolutely nothing in the programme for Government, as the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, well knows, because Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and many other parties supported the Lisbon treaty, which handed over our veto in relation to trade. That is the truth of it. The most galling act of all took place when the Government knew the qualified majority vote was collapsing. At that point the Government came out and said it would reject the deal. It is utterly shameful. I am calling on the Minister of State to get off the fence. First, the Government must get a handle on its own MEPs. Are they with us or are they against us? If they vote for this deal what sanctions will be applied within Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael? I also ask the Minister of State to engage in a full diplomatic offensive in relation to this issue. It is very clear that the Minister of State has, at best, sat on his hands on this issue. The clock is ticking. I ask him to engage, to send a delegation, and to send the Head of Government, the Taoiseach, out to Brussels to meet with every political grouping in Brussels ahead of the vote in the Parliament. The other issue is that we are demanding a litmus test on this. This must be sent to the European Court of Justice. There are serious issues, for example in relation to the free trade and environmental aspects. This deal is the very definition of an anti-competitive practice. We are tying our own farmers up in knots with animal welfare and environmental standards and so on, and yet those same regulations do not apply to these products that will be sold right across the European Union. On the environmental aspect, according to our Climate Change Advisory Council Ireland faces up to €28 billion in fines by 2030. The same European institutions that want to saddle us with this debt are actually seeking the destruction of the rainforests. We are calling on the Government to get off the fence, to mobilise and to reject this deal.

In every deal a country that is a member of the European Union it is giving up some sort of sovereignty in return for something it believes will be of more benefit. Certainly Mercosur does have a marginal benefit to Ireland as a country in terms of our industrial side but it has a massive downside in terms of agriculture. We give out about the EU but we would not have had a nitrates directive and other environmental legislation without the EU. Ireland got a derogation because we were going cap in hand, so there is a little bit of a double standard here. We are asking for permission to put animal excrement into our waterways and to pollute our country so that we can export beef and dairy. If anything, we should be reducing our consumption of beef and dairy because all red meat, even when it is organic, has carcinogenic properties. I take on board what my colleagues before me said with regard to whether we could expect the Brazilian product to be any better. It is going to be worse because of the lack of regulation. It will lead to the cutting down of more rainforests, which are vital to our ongoing survival as a viable species. The European Union has not done enough work in that regard. This is why I support the motion and I support Ireland doing more to oppose Mercosur. In that context, I will just point out that we have the European Union vote and we also have areas where Ireland has mixed or its own competence in certain parts. While the European Union can proceed, even with the qualified majority vote side of things as the deal is passed, there are certain areas where we can veto, delay and block. We should be doing it for the right reasons. It is great to hear people talking about climate change here and the impact this deal will have. I would like to see that level of conversation continue going forward.

I heard a few Members of the House speaking tonight about the fisheries and what we have lost. I have been engaging with the Minister of State, and I hope he will address that issue and how the EU is taking advantage of our seas. With regard to the Mercosur deal, I welcome Deputy Gogarty's acknowledgment that there are some benefits. There are farmers here tonight. I come from a constituency in north Dublin. The only fields in my constituency are GAA pitches but I have been contacted by a lot of people. I am also well aware of the environmental impact this deal is going to create. From speaking to people, and from all the emails I got into my office, as it stands the deal is fundamentally incompatible with Irish agriculture given the food safety standards our farmers are held to and the regulations that they have to meet compared with those for the producers of meat we will be importing from the Mercosur countries. It is completely hypocritical. I welcome the work that the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and the leader of the regional group, the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, did in relation to Mercosur. This is why I welcome the fact that we are voting against the Mercosur agreement. With regard to including the strict limits on antibiotic use and the complete ban on growth hormones, allowing imports from countries that permit weak regulation in this area is unacceptable. It is indefensible and it undermines the trust in our food system. Ireland is known around the world for how good our food system is. I heard a lot of Members talking about labelling. I will be very interested to see how the labelling will be done. I welcome some parts of the Sinn Féin motion but I will not be supporting the motion. If one reads the entire motion, there is a lot of stuff in it that is not good. The agreement also contradicts Ireland's climate commitments. As an environmental engineer it does not make sense to me for our farmers to be held to the strictest environmental standards while on the other side of the world the Amazon rainforest will be cut down for cattle to be reared, and then giant ships will be used to ship the beef here to be eaten. It makes no sense when you look at the entire carbon emissions of the Earth. I welcome that we are voting against this Mercosur deal. We should not support any trade agreement that compromises food safety, animal welfare, public health and climate responsibility. This agreement should be rejected outright.

I have continually opposed the Mercosur agreement. I should call it a deal because it should not be an agreement. I want to ask who the Government serves. Does it serve its EU masters and try to be the best boys and girls in the class out there or does it serve Irish farmers, who have worked so hard and tirelessly to contribute to our economy? Whose interests does the Government serve? I am so concerned that it is willing to sacrifice a sector that has helped us in the bleakest times and helped keep the lights on when things were bad in the country. The Government is willing to sacrifice all that and turn its back on Irish farmers. It is absolutely disgraceful. Not alone is the Government willing to sacrifice that sector but it is willing to put people's health at risk as well by allowing inferior beef to come into the country. It really is shocking. I am asking for a simple thing to be done here. How serious is the Government's opposition? It came out in the last few days to say it was opposed but how serious is that? If the Government is serious about opposing then it should ensure it disapplies the agricultural elements of the deal. We are not agreeing. The people have spoken loud and clear in Athlone. I was there. There were thousands of people. Surely the Government is here to serve them and not to appease Germany or Ursula von der Leyen. The Government needs to serve the Irish people. They have spoken. People are so disillusioned. I spoke to many people who were not from farming backgrounds and they expressed concerns and views along the lines that if the EU could do this to France, the largest agricultural exporter, and could do it to our beef farmers after destroying our fisheries, then how could they believe it had their interests at heart on any other issue? It does not have our interests at heart and the Government needs to disapply the agricultural elements immediately. We have already sacrificed too much in Ireland. Our fisheries have been decimated. Do not let the same thing happen to agriculture. I am saying loud and clear that there are solutions. The Government needs to stand up and forget about being the good boys and girls in the class in Brussels. It needs to stand up and represent the interests of the people who elected its members to this House.

Well done to Ciaran Mullooly MEP for organising the demonstration in Athlone, which I attended as a member of the Fine Gael Party and as a TD for Longford-Westmeath and to support the local Longford and Westmeath IFA organisations that I have worked with for a long time. I wish to highlight a couple of things. There was an Oireachtas committee meeting held with the IFA and the Irish Farmers Journal around mid-December to discuss the issue with the beef coming in from Brazil. There were very few Opposition Members at that and over 50% of the people at it were Fine Gael Oireachtas Members. A lot of people have got very vocal in the last couple of weeks but they were not vocal previously. The Government has been very clear about our concerns regarding the EU-Mercosur agreement for a long number of years. We put into the programme for Government that we would not support it in the form it was in and we would work with like-minded countries in opposition to it. That is what we did as a Government, collectively, represented by our Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon. We worked with like-minded countries and when Italy got whatever sweetheart deal it got, our Minister went out to Europe batting in the middle of last week to work with other like-minded countries to make sure there was support, and a number of countries voted against this agreement. I support the calls that our MEPs, when it comes to the decision in a number of weeks’ time, support the decision that has been made by the Government. Ultimately, the Government has concluded that the recent additions and the commitments were not sufficient for our agricultural sector, so it has stood behind the agricultural community throughout the country. We voted against the deal, which we committed to doing in the programme for Government passed here 12 months ago, so to say we only made decisions in the days leading up to last Friday is totally and factually incorrect. It is in the programme for Government and it is being supported by the Government. The other parties that are shouting and throwing their flags, as they did last weekend up in Athlone, are only coming to the table now. The Government has been committed to supporting the agricultural industry here. We have seen it in the work done by the Minister, Deputy Heydon, in securing a three-year derogation when people did not feel it would be got and I am confident in the ability of the Government and our representatives going out to Europe that we will get a strong and fair CAP deal for the farmers of our country.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus an Aire Stáit. I am going to take a slightly different approach here as a healthcare professional and also as a farmer’s daughter. It is not going to change the current position but it is just to make the case that essential food molecules, including protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals and water, are the very things that constitute beef, chicken and grain. Maybe not so much honey, although it primarily has a high carbohydrate content. Essential nutrients such as these should never have been part of a World Trade Organization deal going back 20 years or even well before that. The reality of that is borne out if we take books such as Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat, which was written 13 or 14 years ago by Philip Lymbery, Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken and Food Fight: From Plunder and Profit to People and Planet, written last year by Stuart Gillespie. Despite the gap of 13 years between the first and last of those books being written, they identify some very serious trends. Probably foremost in everybody’s minds is the lack of a fair playing field, traceability, food standards, the inclusion of hormones and the rampant use of antibiotics in foods produced in other jurisdictions. We can look at what global food systems are leading to around the world. This crosses over with climate change and migration. It is key to all those issues that face Europe, including Ireland. Global food systems are currently leading to widespread hunger. Indigenous communities are being moved off their land to make way for supersized farms. Obesity is a very clear problem in this country. Ultra-processed foods and the fast fattening of animals are contributing to a higher fat content and this is making its way to the Irish market. Some 45.9% of Irish household purchases include ultra-processed foods. That is not to mention the hormones and the additives potentially coming in as well. The environmental damage is in itself hypocrisy. Clearing forests and river basins for intensive paddock formation, tillage, etc. in the southern hemisphere is bringing its own problems. We do not know what the ultimate CAP figure is going to be but we need a radical overhaul of our food system, one that prioritises public health, traceability and viability. Essential nutrients should never be part of a trade deal. If we learn nothing else from history, where did the Famine of 1845 to 1848 lead? That was a control of supply of food and cutting off a food supply. When including food in these trade deals, we are at high risk of history repeating itself in the 21st century.

I begin by reiterating that the Government rejects entirely the arguments and assertions put forward in the Sinn Féin motion. As stated by the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, the motion does not at all acknowledge the serious and diligent work undertaken by the Government and by numerous Government Ministers at European level with like-minded EU member states to oppose the EU-Mercosur agreement and to defend the interests of Irish farmers and rural communities. I have heard from many tonight that they wanted to hear us shouting and roaring over that period.

The Government did nothing. Zero.

When at some point Sinn Féin gets an opportunity to be in government - it has experience north of the Border - it will know how diplomacy works. When people have the privilege and obligation to work on behalf of the people, they do so behind the scenes and they work generously. We set our frame forward when we entered government with a programme for Government that set out clearly that we were against the Mercosur agreement as it was constituted. The Government worked tirelessly with like-minded member states that shared our concerns about the agreement with the objective of standing up for Irish farmers, protecting the rural economy and ensuring Ireland's voice was heard clearly and credibly at EU level because that is where the decisions were being made. This effort was led by the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs and defence who engaged extensively with EU counterparts. These are all matters of public record. Efforts to build a blocking minority were sustained over time and took place across multiple forums, at European Council meetings, sectoral meetings and bilaterally. We did not focus our efforts on member states alone. There was close and direct dialogue with the European Commission, including during the visit of the trade Commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, in October last year and at the agricultural ministers political meeting with Commissioners Hansen, Šefčovič and Várhelyi last week. As the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, set out earlier, the purpose of that broad-based engagement was twofold. It was, first, to attempt to build a blocking minority of member states and, second, to seek substantive changes and safeguards that would have meaningful impact and address some of Ireland's concerns. Thanks to these serious efforts by the Government alongside like-minded member states, real improvements to the agreement in the form of tangible flanking measures and supports for farmers have been achieved. I am taken by some of the theatrics tonight. I do not question the validity of anyone's mandate, but there have been some theatrics in recent days. It reminds me of the wannabe Texas rancher - big hat but no cattle. I will turn to the broader context in which this debate sits and underline a central truth that has guided the Government's approach throughout. Ireland is and will remain a trading nation. Trade is not an abstract policy for this country. It underpins our economic success, our employment base and, essentially, our living standards and that includes those of our rural communities. Our openness to the world and willingness to engage, compete and build partnerships beyond our shores is what has allowed a small island nation to develop a global economic footprint far beyond its size. Through our membership of the European Union, Ireland benefits from access to the world's largest trading bloc from an EU trade policy that opens markets, reduces barriers and creates opportunities for Irish business. That remains a core strategic advantage of our economy and in that context, the Government acknowledges the EU-Mercosur agreement has the potential to enhance trading and investment opportunities between Ireland and the Mercosur region. I have heard the flippant remark that it is giving away Irish beef for German cars. There is a company in Galway that employs 1,000 people and makes products for the automotive sector, and there are many more around the country. Deputy Healy made the point that the agreement was just for other countries. We have a significant pharmaceutical sector that would benefit from this. However, Ireland already has a significant and growing trading relationship with Mercosur. In 2024, Ireland exported goods worth approximately €820 million to those countries, while services exports in 2023 were valued at approximately €1.8 billion. Taken together, total trade between Ireland and Mercosur, including goods and services in both directions, is worth about €4.1 billion. These figures matter. They demonstrate that Mercosur is not a hypothetical market for Ireland, but a real and increasingly important trading partner. The agreement could open further opportunities for Irish exporters across a wide range of sectors. These include business and professional services, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, machinery, medical devices and advanced manufacturing. The agreement would also improve access to Mercosur public procurement markets, offering Irish companies new opportunities to compete for major contracts in rapidly developing economies. There are also potential benefits for parts of the agrifood sector, beyond our most sensitive areas. Opportunities exist for processed food and dairy products as well as for alcoholic beverages and spirits. In addition, the agreement would provide protection for two important Irish geographical indications, Irish cream liqueur and Irish whiskey, helping to safeguard the authenticity and reputation of iconic Irish products in international markets That comes at a time when there are issues with our trading into the United States and the tariffs that apply there. There are tangible and significant benefits and the Government does not dismiss them. On the contrary, they are an important part of our overall assessment of the agreement. The then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's Economic and Sustainability Impact Assessment for Ireland of the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, published in June 2021, found that the agreement could have broadly positive impacts for Ireland overall. Taking into account direct and indirect effects, the assessment estimated that Ireland's global goods exports could increase by approximately 0.24% or €1.1 billion. It is also important to consider what this could mean for small and medium enterprises, as 97% of Irish exporters are small companies. For many of these businesses, exporting outside the EU can be particularly challenging due to tariffs, complex customs procedures and administrative burdens. The EU-Mercosur agreement has the potential to help to address these challenges. It would reduce costs by eliminating tariffs and simplifying customs procedures; ease administrative burdens by making it easier to certify products for local sale; and improve access to public procurement opportunities by increasing transparency and access to information. For many Irish SMEs, these changes could be the difference between being able to enter a new market or not. The Government recognises all of this. We recognise the opportunities, the potential benefits for exporters, enterprise, services and job creation. We recognise the strategic arguments made by the European Commission and other member states in favour of the agreement. However, the role of the Government is not simply to catalogue the potential gains. It is to assess the full picture, weigh opportunity against risk, consider distributional impacts and ensure progress in one part of the economy does not come at an unacceptable cost to another. In Ireland's case, agriculture and the rural economy are not peripheral considerations. They are central to social cohesion, regional development and national identity. While the agreement may deliver benefits for some sectors, the Government concluded on balance and after exhaustive engagement that the risk to Irish agriculture and rural communities had not been sufficiently mitigated. That is why Ireland voted against the signature of the EU-Mercosur agreement in line with the programme for Government commitment. I am setting out for the House the journey that was taken by the Government and the conclusion. I heard a few contributions stating we should have made our position clearer earlier. We worked our way constructively with other member states to try to build a blocking minority. I know how that has worked against us, with respect. I know it from the fisheries perspective.

As well as it did in fisheries. It did a great job there.

Yes, because others worked together to block us. The Deputies opposite know the facts of this.

Do not mention the fisheries deal.

They know full well that this decision does not diminish Ireland's commitment to trade with the European Union or to the international engagement. Rather, it reflects a careful, evidence-based judgment that trade policy must be fair, sustainable and balanced. The Government will continue to engage constructively as the process moves forward, including ahead of the European Parliament vote. We will continue to advocate for the strongest possible implementation of safeguards, standards and commitments secured through Ireland's engagement. This is the balanced and responsible approach the Government has taken throughout. It is one that recognises opportunity, confronts risk and places the long-term interests of the Irish people in urban and rural areas at the centre of decision-making. For those reasons, the Government stands by its position, commends its amendment to the House and reaffirms its commitment to Irish farmers and rural communities, to Ireland's future and to the outward looking trading nation we are. While the Deputies seek to undermine our activities here, I have heard no one - perhaps one or two on the other side - give any credibility to the work of the Government on the retention of the nitrates derogation-----

Was that a trade-off?

-----or the reopening of market access for beef to the Chinese markets. This Government has shown time after time a commitment to rural communities. Time after time, it has delivered for rural communities. We can all get up here and shout and roar, but the reality is that I, as someone who was born and bred in a rural community and brought up on a small farm,-----

The Minister of State should conclude.

-----know how much agriculture has changed over the past 50 years. I know what engagement within the European Union has meant and I am shocked by some of the utterances, that some people say our future would be better - I am not saying Deputy Kenny said this but it is part of this narrative - outside the European Union.

Then the Minister of State knows how long it took farmers to get there.

Sadly, the Deputy and I know that is not the case.

On a point of order, I asked the Minister of State to clarify whether Barry Andrews, Regina Doherty or Seán Kelly will be voting with Ireland or voting with Ursula in a couple of weeks' time. The Minister of State has to give clarity on that.

That is not a matter for the Minister of State.

It is hugely important.

It is. Deputy Bennett.

That the Mercosur trade agreement has even reached this point is a result of political strokes. In the first instance, the supporters of the Lisbon treaty, including Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, opened the door to the European Commission circumventing member state vetoes.

Which European treaty did Sinn Féin support? We would not be there today if it was up to Sinn Féin.

Sinn Féin and others sought the Government to formally express its opposition to this deal and it refused. Instead, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael spoke of safeguards that we know to be worthless. The following year, the Government endorsed the reappointment of the Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. She executed the stroke the Government parties empowered her to use under the Lisbon treaty and stripped Ireland of its veto. Still, the possibility remained that a blocking minority could be formed in Europe of those states not willing to sacrifice their farmers' livelihoods or the environment in favour of German car manufacturers. Did the Government kick into gear then?

Every day.

Not a chance. That is, until the day on which the deal's passage was secured, at which time the Taoiseach said that we would vote against it, secure in the knowledge it would not have a meaningful impact. The Taoiseach is not opposed to the Mercosur agreement. He just thinks the Irish people are fools who will buy his cheap charade. They were working behind the scenes is what an tAire Stáit said. What a laugh. Sinn Féin's motion tonight gives every Member of this House the opportunity to lay on the table exactly where they stand and if there will truly join the fight against a bad deal for Irish farmers. Shame on any Member who backs the Taoiseach's threadbare theatre and believes he or she can take farming families for fools.

I listened to the debate in my office today. The industry will be decimated, full stop. We have seen it with the fishing industry. We cannot say we went out and bargained for this, that and the other. The fishing industry was sold out. We should have a fishing industry worth billions of euro worth here. The Minister mentioned in his speech about quality of life. How can a person have a better quality of life if he or she is eating muck? It is muck. We debated a Bill on vaping about two hours ago and the carcinogens in it and we are banning it straight away. We will, however, bring in 90,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry but it is okay to eat that because we will have a better quality of life. It is absolutely bonkers. The Government will drive young farmers into extinction because if this goes through they will have nothing. The EU fines farmers for environmental breaches and all of that yet it will be grand to go over to Brazil and other countries where there is massive deforestation. We are talking about an environmental impact and the carbon footprint to import this stuff. The EU does not care about it. It is all about getting the best deal for Ursula and her buddies because they paid off another country during the week with millions and millions of euro. This is how the game works. It is absolutely farcical that we are here and we have been waiting so long for this. I have listened to other speakers state that all our MEPs have a duty there. If the deal is not good enough for Ireland let us be honest with Europe and say no, we got stung once. We dipped our fingers in the water and we got burnt. That was in regard to the fishing industry. Now you are telling us the water is not as hot any more, it is probably lukewarm, we will get away with it and everything will be grand. I know the Minister of State mentioned trade. There is no guarantee with that. What have we got in trade when it comes to our fishing industry? We have foreign vehicles and foreign trawlers coming in wiping the country out and we have the best fish in the world. We saw the other day that crabs came off a truck that were being exported to Portugal. I always say that when you go on holidays, it is the best of Irish fish you are eating. I am very worried about this deal. We are banning carcinogens in vaping as we debated today but yet we will bring thousands and thousands of tonnes of muck - that is all I can call it - into this country and we are being told it will be fine because we will get better deals for something else.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Mercosur trade deal and I welcome the farmers to the Gallery this evening. As an urban TD I have to put on the record that I have been contacted by a large number of constituents who have raised this trade deal with me in the run-up to last week's vote. They were concerned about two things, namely, food safety and the damage to the environment. I was shocked to read the report produced by the Irish Farmers' Journal. Its journalists travelled to Brazil and investigated just how easy it is to buy growth hormones for cattle, as well as antibiotics and other products that were banned in Europe or that require a prescription. They were able to walk up to the counters in the shop. They did not speak Portuguese. They were able to point at the bottles and buy them. No prescription or identification was needed and there were no checks whatsoever. The lack of controls or oversight on the sale and use of these products has serious implications for the Irish and European food chains. In terms of the environment, there are farmers in Brazil with 50,000 or more cattle and they are clearing huge tracts of rainforest for grazing. When this beef is ready to export it is being sent halfway around the world to Europe. Seriously, how does the Minister of State square that with Ireland's commitment to protect the environment? The Government needs to take action. It needs to do everything in its power to oppose the ratification of this trade agreement.

The decision by the EU Council to approve the Mercosur trade deal was a bad day for Ireland. It is bad for our public health, our environment, our agricultural industry and our citizens. The Government's eleventh hour conversion to opposing the deal was a cynical move to save votes but the public and the farming community saw through this manoeuvre. The Government only made the decision to oppose this dodgy deal when it was safe in the knowledge it would have passed because of Italy's decision to support it.

It would have passed either way.

For years, Sinn Féin has been highlighting the reasons we should oppose this deal. We urged this Government to come out and join us in campaigning against the Mercosur deal but it sat silently refusing to defend Ireland's interests until the last minute when it was too late. Sinn Féin will continue to actively campaign to put an end to this disastrous deal. Our MEPs Lynn Boylan and Kathleen Funchion are taking a legal challenge against the deal and there will be a vote on it in the EU Parliament. Sinn Féin is calling on the Government to put into the public domain all legal, political and diplomatic actions it will now take to stop the Mercosur trade deal. We are also calling on the Government to publicly support the legal action being taken by members of the European Parliament against the ratification of the Mercosur agreement and, finally, we ask that the Government mandates its MEPs to vote against the deal and build a blocking minority among like-minded EU member states.

That is the European Parliament now.

The Minister of State has had his opportunity.

At the nub of this issue is the reality that everybody knows, across Europe and the world, that the standards we are expected to meet in Europe when it comes to food production and the standards that are expected in Brazil and other Mercosur countries are not the same. We all know that. They are decades behind when it comes to food quality standards. The Minister of State knows that, I know that and everybody knows that and yet that is set aside. Public health is set aside for what? For the profit of a certain number of corporations. I know there are certain jobs and all of that but that comes to the nub of it. In the Minister of State's summing up earlier he got to what is the issue here. The issue here is that he said on one hand the Government tried to build a minority to block the deal but at the same time was trying to work with people to improve the deal. You cannot do both.

Hear, hear.

It is as simple as that.

It is from both sides of the Minister of State's mouth.

It is a contradiction if the Government says it wants to improve the deal but it is also saying to the same people it also wants to block it. The Government cannot do both and we all know that. We hear it back. We do not live in a vacuum. We hear what goes on in the country and we hear what goes on in Europe also. The truth is, on one side of the Minister of State's mouth over here he was saying he wants to block the deal but when he went out to Europe and European meetings were happening with Irish officials they were wishy-washy, saying well, if we could improve this and if this little thing could be done it might help. It was all about getting the deal improved so that it could be palatable for the Irish Government to sell. That is exactly what was being done. The Taoiseach, when he was in China the other day, thought that he was at the point that it was nearly palatable, and he was sort of saying that a lot of things have improved and everything is good now. Basically, what he was saying was that the Government was going to vote "Yes" to it - the Minister of State knows that - and only at the last minute was the U-turn done. That is the reality. Everyone knows that. We will put the past behind us. We will put the Government's duplicity and all its nonsense behind us and we will start a new day tomorrow. Will it tomorrow make sure that every MEP elected in Ireland will vote against this agreement? Will the Minister of State make sure they vote against it? Will he make sure his Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael colleagues who are Government MEPs vote against it? Will he do that or will he not? That is a mark of what his commitment is. Will he make sure that he works with other countries across Europe to block this deal? Will the Government publish what it has done in the past and what it intends to do in the future, as stated in the motion we put before the House, or will it not? At the end of the day, we know where the Government stands. The Government thinks it can ride both horses; it cannot.

The division on Aontú's amendment to the Minister of State's amendment is postponed until the weekly division time tomorrow evening.