Postponement of Mercosur Deal Welcome, But Taoiseach Must Clarify Comments

Speaking from Brussels, IFA President Francie Gorman said that comments by the Taoiseach Micheál Martin which indicated that the Government would have to factor in the recent EU Commission decision on the Nitrates derogation into its thinking on Mercosur were totally unacceptable.

“These are two separate and distinct issues. For the Taoiseach to appear to link them is utterly unacceptable. There is a clear commitment on both issues in the Programme for Government,” he said.

“The Taoiseach must now clarify if he has done some backroom deal with Ursula von der Leyen to back Mercosur and to sell out Ireland’s beef and poultry farmers,” he said.

The IFA President held discussions in Brussels yesterday with the EU Commission, including Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen and Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic, after the protest. “I attended as Vice President of COPA and re-stated the total opposition of Irish farmers to the Mercosur deal.”

The Taoiseach’s comments about the supposed safeguards are also misguided.

“These proposed tweaks to the misleadingly-named ‘safeguard’ clause are purely cosmetic. The Taoiseach seems to be trying to use these tweaks as a fig leaf to get him out of the commitment made in the Programme for Government,” he said.

“The postponement of the Mercosur vote at the EU Council overnight shows that the proponents of the deal are on the run. Now is the time for the Taoiseach to re-affirm the commitment in the PfG and to work with like-minded Member States to see it off,” he said.