Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2026
800. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of occasions on which Ireland formally raised opposition to the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement at meetings of the AGRIFISH Council since January 2025; the steps that were taken at those meetings to build or consolidate opposition among EU member states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3785/26]
View answerThe Government has been very clear about Ireland’s concerns in relation to the EU-Mercosur Agreement and has expressed these consistently over a number of years, particularly in relation to the Agreement's potential impact on the beef sector, the strength of its climate and sustainability commitments, and the food safety and environmental standards enforced by Mercosur countries.
Since I took up the role as Minister last year, I have met with my like-minded EU counterparts to discuss these concerns. I have also raised them at every opportunity at Agri-Fish Council in Brussels and was again able to do so at the recent extraordinary EU Agriculture Ministers’ meeting with Commissioners Hansen, Šefčovič and Várhelyi.
The specific Agri-Fish Council meetings in which I raised our concerns on the EU-Mercosur Agreement within appropriate agenda items are as follows:
• 27 January 2025
• 24 February 2025
• 24 March 2025
• 23 June 2025
• 7 July 2025
• 22-23 September 2025
• 17 November 2025
• 7 January 2026 (Extraordinary meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers)
