An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

My Aontú colleagues, Deputy Paul Lawless and Melissa Byrne, are in Strasbourg today lobbying MEPs to vote to send the Mercosur deal to the European Court of Justice. Our team has spoken to dozens of MEPs. A referral to the ECJ would legally freeze the agreement and allow for proper scrutiny of its environmental, competition and legal implications. While the Taoiseach's Government says that it is opposed to the deal, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil MEPs will nonetheless support the deal and hammer Irish farmers. Barry Andrews and Regina Doherty need to be reined in. Is the Taoiseach going to speak to them? This vote could be tight so why is it that only Opposition parties like Aontú and organisations such as the IFA are doing the heavy lifting on this in advance of tomorrow's vote? Where is the Government in lobbying these MEPs? Will the Government tell Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael MEPs to vote to send this deal to the ECJ? Does the Taoiseach have any control over them at all?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20