An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-24
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

The Government has welcomed the agreement and will be supporting it at EU level. Ireland's agrifood exports will benefit under the deal through easier access to the large Australian market. We believe this will give us more opportunities to sell our products due to tariff elimination. Tariffs will go down to zero on key EU export products such as cheese over three years. There will be recognition for iconic Irish geographical indications, such as Irish whiskey, Irish cream and poitín. There will be preferential rules of origin for Irish whiskey. Exports of prepared foodstuffs and Irish dairy products, including cheese, will also see tariff reductions. European Union dairy exports to Australia are estimated to have the potential to grow by 48% under the deal.
There are issues with the importation of beef; that will be over a ten-year period. However, mechanisms have been put in place to deal with an unacceptable impact on markets where the EU can intervene. The figure is much less than what the Australian side was seeking. It will be phased in over a ten-year period. It represents about 0.5% of European Union domestic consumption of beef.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-24