Sinn Féin spokesperson on Agriculture, Deputy Matt Carthy says the Government is paying lip service to climate action because of its involvement in the Mercosur trade agreement. The local TD is calling on the exchequer to immediately end any further progress of the agreement, which will allow for the importation of 100,000 additional tonnes of beef into the EU market.
He said it was beyond ironic that while there has been a sustained discussion on the role of agriculture in domestic carbon emissions, the Brazilian meat industry is unveiling plans to increase the cattle herd by 6.5m in order to meet projected export demand.
Deputy Carthy highlighted how this increase represented the equivalent of the Republic of Ireland's entire beef and dairy herd. He added that Government ministers are now moving to oppose the deal.
“Irish farmers can and must take measures to reduce emissions. But we cannot expect those actions to be taken while the European Commission is preparing to sign off on a trade deal that will undo any positive impact of our domestic actions. Ireland has a veto on this trade deal, and the government must inform the EU that we intend to use it and thereby end any further progress on this disastrous agreement.
“The Mercosur trade deal offers nothing positive for Ireland. It is bad for our most important indigenous sector, bad for our overall economy and disastrous for the environment. It must be rejected, now.”
