The Minister will agree that there could not be a worse time to conclude the Mercosur deal than today. There could not be a worse time from the point of view of our climate. The Oireachtas has declared a climate emergency - a declaration that is being repeated all over the world - and there is an awareness now of how finite our time on this planet is. The conclusion of this deal could not come at a worse time for the beef or poultry sectors. The latter have suffered significant price reductions and difficulties with factories. The Government is putting its head in the sand while these sectors are being decimated and hoping it will all go away. Despite this, the EU Commission has decided to conclude a deal. The deal in question has been has been 20 years in the making, it goes against all of the principles, beliefs and declarations relating to climate change, it will sound the death knell for Irish beef and severely damage the Irish poultry sector.

Then there is the background of a hard Brexit. We have discussed the ins and outs of the very particular impact the latter will have on this island. What is agreed is that no matter what happens with Brexit, it will bad for our economy and, in particular, our beef producers. Mercosur, Brexit and the climate emergency are leading to a disaster that is being underpinned by the agreement to which I refer, to which the European Commission has signed up and in respect of which there have, depending on the day of the week or the hour of the day, been incredibly mixed signals coming from the Government.

This agreement was signed up to without any environmental analysis. In an article in today's edition of the Irish Farmers' Journal, Commissioner Hogan indicates that every country should carry out its own environmental analysis. What land is he living in? He is certainly not showing any awareness of where this planet is at if that is his attitude. When replying to questions on the matter from Deputy Micheál Martin on Tuesday last, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton stated, "This trade deal has compliance with the Paris Agreement at its heart. If there is not compliance with the Paris Agreement, there is no deal." I can tell the Minister opposite, Deputy Regina Doherty, that there is not compliance with the Paris Agreement because the EU is planning to reward governments, including that in Brazil, which is clearing rainforests at a rate of knots in order to make room for cattle which will be sold as part of this deal. Every 15 seconds, an area of rain forest the size of a football pitch is cleared. Since President Bolsonaro took office, the level of deforestation has accelerated. The EU Commission is saying, "Go ahead," and giving him a clap on the back. Where is the Paris Agreement in that context? Instead, what we got all week were different messages. It seems that the Government is engaging in media management in order to try to manage its own backbenchers who have suddenly woken up to the implications of this deal.

As both a Minister and a representative for Meath, Deputy Regina Doherty should be aware of the challenge facing our beef and poultry sectors. As a young Minister, she should be aware of where we stand in the context of the climate emergency. In order to get some idea as to where matters stand, from a Government perspective, can she outline her view on the agreement? Should the Mercosur agreement be passed and should the Government endorse it? Is the Minister on team Creed, the leader of which is going to take the agreement apart? Is she a member of team Humphreys, the leader of which thinks the agreement is good and that it will present many opportunities? Is she standing with the beef and poultry farmers? Is she standing with the climate against the might of South American climate deniers? Will the Government ratify or reject the Mercosur deal?

As a young Minister, I am on team Ireland, as are the Taoiseach, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton. I expect all Members of this House and of the Seanad are also on that team.

It is fully acknowledged that having a balanced international trade deal is important for our economy, including our agriculture sector. There is no point in having a benefit for one part of the economy and not having an equal benefit for another. That is why the agreement, which includes a significant tariff rate quota that will allow beef imports from Mercosur countries, is a disappointment to every one of us. That is why we have been working for the past number of years to bring it from where it was to where it is now. As the Deputy will agree, however, there is still a long way to go.

We worked hard with our colleagues in Europe to ensure that we will try to mitigate the impacts of what is on the table today. The agreement does not only have negative connotations for Ireland and Ireland's beef sector, it has those for other EU countries and some others who have aligned with the EU. While it is disappointing, the amount of time that it has taken for us to get where we are shows, in part, our efforts to try to mitigate what was originally a 300,000 tonne quota. That quota has now been significantly reduced. The Taoiseach, the Minister, Deputy Creed, Commissioner Hogan and others who have expressed their views, including the Deputy - I genuinely believe we are all on team Ireland here and on the same side - need to work together. My party and the Deputy's party need to use their connections in Europe to ensure that we get both a better result and better a transposition of what is a headline agreement into the legal text. That includes carbon-proofing the production methods used by all of those who are operating on a level playing field. It also includes taking cognisance of the governance in our beef and poultry sectors which is second to none. It further includes the quality and the delivery of the standards with which we have become synonymous internationally.

What is agreed today is not satisfactory from our perspective. Equally, it is not satisfactory from the perspective of others across Europe. The Taoiseach was fairly clear yesterday and the day before when he stated that we will work over the next couple of years with the influence that we have collegially with other countries and also with our Commissioner - he has done a tremendous amount of work to reduce the impact in recent years but the job is not done yet - to ensure that we continue to reduce the impact on our beef and poultry sectors. The agreement is currently a headline document and it will take at least two years - if the 20 years it has taken to get to where we are today are anything to go by, it could effectively take longer - for us to agree and align with those who are in similar positions to ourselves in order to ensure that we get a level playing field in respect of governance, carbon production and quality with regard to the sectors concerned.

There is no disjointedness and there is no spin. I genuinely believe that all politicians in this House should be on team Ireland and that we all should be working for the best outcome for our beef sector, but also for all of the other sectors that will benefit from the positive parts of Mercosur.

Everybody is on team Ireland. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, is on team Ireland but he fell asleep when he was on the pitch. Is Commissioner Hogan on team Ireland? The Commissioner is the cheerleader for this deal but I have noticed that there are more Fine Gael tanks being placed on his lawn than we will see in Washington later today. Commissioner Hogan is going to become the Government's scapegoat for this.

Our beef farmers, poultry farmers and pig farmers are on team Ireland but they are not feeling the team spirit at this stage because they have been thrown to the wolves. So many people are on team Ireland in terms of climate but they see the Government acquiescing to a deal that rewards climate change deniers, those who destroy rainforests and people who adhere to low standards.

I agree that team Ireland has the highest possible standards. Our beef, our poultry and our pigmeat are world class because of those standards, which cost money and make our products slightly more expensive compared with those of countries that do not have standards.

By acquiescing to this deal, we are rewarding the absence of standards. We are rewarding climate change deniers and abandoning our core agricultural industry. Farmers are not really feeling part of the team at the moment. Team Ireland is a lovely concept but those left on the substitutes' bench or indeed outside the stadium are not part of the team. Our beef, poultry and pig farmers do not feel as if they are in the stadium and they certainly do not feel there is anybody playing for them at the moment.

It is a pity that the Deputy continues to want to play the man and not the ball. He decries when somebody else plays his man. He needs to have a bit of consistency in this area.

For God's sake.

We are on team Ireland. The team has not even been put on the pitch yet and the Deputy has already decided what the outcome will be. That is a pity, given that he is an experienced politician.

We have the result of the game.

The Deputy knows how these deals work out and unravel. We are only at the start of the end of phase 1. The transposing of this headline agreement into a legal text will take place over the next number of years. It will be absolutely crucial that we represent the best interests of the beef industry in this country, as this Government and the ones that went before it have always done. That is why we should be on team Ireland. This is not about Fianna Fáil against Fine Gael against Sinn Féin. We all should want the best outcomes for all of the industries we represent. Beef is an incredibly important industry here but there are also beneficiaries of this deal. We need to reduce the difficulties and negatives in the deal for our beef and poultry industries while maintaining all of the positives for our drinks, chemicals and pharmaceutical industries. There is a fine balance to be played over the next few years by us and our skilled negotiating team in Europe, which includes Commissioner Hogan, to ensure that the final legal agreement hits the mark and provides positives for every industry.