Cabinet Committees
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-13
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

The Taoiseach’s record on Mercosur has been a disaster. Last week saw one of the most incredible flip-flops in political history. One day, the Taoiseach was in support of Mercosur, saying it could be of benefit to the State and the next day he came out against it as well. I am not sure if that flip-flop came as a result of instability within Fianna Fáil and the backlash from its TDs or because Fine Gael basically outmanoeuvred Fianna Fáil just at the last minute also or because Italy gave the Taoiseach cover to make that change. It is fiercely cynical in relation to what is happening to farmers. Mercosur is an existential threat to farmers in this country. Will the Taoiseach help to lobby MEPs throughout the European Union to persuade them to vote against Mercosur? Will he support a boycott of Mercosur beef, which operates at a lower regulatory standard, in this country? Will he make sure there is proper labelling of Mercosur beef so Irish consumers can make that choice?

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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