Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-18
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Michael Fitzmaurice (II), Roscommon-Galway

Every Wednesday night, we press a button here and decide whether are for or against something. We lose some and we win some, but that is what we do; we make a decision. Poland has made a clear-cut decision. France has asked that the matter to be kicked out to the new year. The least Ireland could do would be to issue a statement and join France in that regard. Whether we are on the winning side or the losing side, we need to be on the side of our farmers. Our farmers are very clear in stating that they do not want that deal. I am a believer that we should put our heads on the block. The Government should never be afraid to be on the wrong side of something, if only for the simple reason that it can state that it made a decision. At the moment, we are like a seesaw; we are neither one way nor the other. We have to step up and make a decision in order to provide clarity for farmers.
In fairness, Poland has led on this.
Our committee has had meetings with Poland and France. We will be meeting Austria on Zoom. We are talking to their agriculture committees. The least Ireland should do is make a statement that it will be in line with France. If Ireland showed leadership and said we will stand with Poland and we are opposed to this-----

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-18