EU Agreements
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Natasha Newsome Drennan (SF), Carlow-Kilkenny

There are very real concerns for consumers and farmers regarding the risk this trade deal poses. We have seen the recall of Brazilian beef over the presence of banned cancer-linked drugs. God only knows how much more drug-riddled beef has been sold in Ireland and across the EU, because the levels of laboratory testing are an utter embarrassment. Does the Minister know the percentage of laboratory checks that are carried out? Would she like to hazard a guess? It is 1.7%. Is it the Minister's position that this is an acceptable amount of testing, especially considering all the recalls last year? To me, there is an air of secrecy about it all. Last year, 172 tonnes of beef came in from Brazil. When I asked where it went, the trade data did not even summarise the destination or the end user, so there is no record.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26