
Beef deal shows FG aren’t the ‘farmers party’ – Tóibín
Peadar Tóibín, leader of Aontú, has said that the Mercosur trade deal will badly affect Irish farmers and flies in the face of Fine Gael’s image of being the ‘farmers party’.
Speaking today Deputy Tóibín said:
“Thousands of tonnes of Brazilian beef is set for the Irish and EU market. This will undermine the market as beef with lower EU tariffs from South America will come flooding in.
“The lack of standards and regulation in Brazil will mean this beef will be cheaper. This is a bad deal in terms of livelihoods of Irish farmers, but also in terms of the ecological cost. Thousands of acres of rain forest are being cleared in Brazil to make room for new beef farms and this at a time of environmental crisis.
“It is shocking that with Fine Gael stalwart Phil Hogan as agricultural commissioner that this deal has advanced to this stage. Leo Varadkar must consider the farming community and the impact that this will have on them and the Irish economy as a whole prior to voting on the deal.
“The potential loss to Irish farmers is estimated to be between half to three quarters of a billion euro. The potential cost to the environment is incalculable as the deal will drive the deforestation of the Amazon which is such a crucial element of the global ecosystem.”