An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-13
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

That is nonsense. Everything the Deputy has asserted in relation to that issue is absolute nonsense. Over the last year, since we came into Government, we have negotiated strongly on behalf of Irish farmers on a number of fronts, including securing an extension of the nitrates derogation, which is very important for the overall agricultural industry and economy. In respect of Mercosur, we have negotiated very significant safeguards across the board, not just in terms of sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, but also new legal instruments from the Commission, market safeguards and coming down from 10% to 5% either in reduced pricing or in volume of products. These are very significant protections that were not there. Legally binding commitments have now been put in place. That said, we do not believe they were sufficient in terms of what Irish farmers require and particularly in terms of the environmental obligations that have been placed on Irish farmers.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-13