As we meet here this afternoon, farmers are at the gates protesting against the trade deal agreed between the European Union and Mercosur countries just over a week ago. All of the main farming organisations across the island are utterly opposed to the deal and for very good reason. The Mercosur deal represents a sell-out of Irish farmers and their families. It is devastating news for the rural economy and flies in the face of commitments made to tackle climate change.

Irish beef is the best in the world and let there be no doubt about this. Through no fault of their own, farmers and their families are under massive pressure. There has been a sustained decline in beef prices over the last number of years and farmers are being fleeced by factories that do not pay a fair price for their cattle. Farmers are already suffering because of Brexit and any prospect of a hard or chaotic Brexit will be utterly devastating for the sector. In the middle of all of this, at a time when farm incomes are at disastrously low levels, the European Commission seeks to plough ahead with a deal that would cripple Irish agriculture by allowing tens of thousands of tonnes of cheap meat into the European Union and Ireland. All of this makes absolutely no sense. In fact, it is an insult to farmers, their families and everyone who relies on the beef industry in particular to make a living.

It also makes no sense from an environmental perspective. In fact, I would say it makes a mockery of the European Union's concerns surrounding climate change. We all know the Amazon is being destroyed on a daily basis because of illegal logging and to make way for new cattle ranches. This policy is supported by the new president of Brazil and undoubtedly it will continue and be accelerated if the deal is approved. The Dáil recently declared a climate emergency and the Government recently launched its climate action plan. This deal and the Government's support for it renders both of these initiatives utterly meaningless. The deal needs to be stopped. That is what we need to do. To this end, Sinn Féin has a motion coming before the Dáil this afternoon that calls on the Government in no uncertain terms to stand up for Irish interests and to oppose the deal. The motion can be the first meaningful step in defeating what is a bad deal for our farmers, our environment and our country. I ask the Taoiseach to do the right thing and support the motion this afternoon when it comes before the House.

Everyone in the Government and on these benches understands the pressures our beef farmers are under, particularly at a time when prices are so low and at a time when they face the threat of a no-deal Brexit in a few months' time. The best thing we can do for our beef industry and beef farmers, recognising their importance to the wider rural economy, is to ensure we secure a deal on Brexit by the end of October so the largest export market for our beef farmers remains open to them in a few months' time. The vast majority of our food is exported from this island and our largest market is the UK. This is the issue to which the Government, the Tánaiste, the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, so many others and I are giving so much time because we know how much our rural economies and farmers will suffer if we end up in a no-deal scenario on 31 October. The concerns that arise from Mercosur will pale into insignificance if we end up with no deal on 31 October.

With regard to Mercosur, what the Deputy said is not correct. There is no trade deal agreed. After 20 years of negotiations led by various people along the way but on this occasion led by Commissioner Malmström of the ALDE group there is now a political agreement between the European Commission and Mercosur on a future trade deal. There will be a two year process whereby that 17 page document will be turned into a legal agreement about this size. It will then go to the trade Council, most likely for a vote under QMV. As I have said before, if it is the case that the trade deal is not in Ireland's interest we will not hesitate to vote against it but we will need to see the full legal agreement and do a full economic and environmental assessment of it because while there is no doubt there are serious downsides in this for our beef industry there may also be upsides too, in the dairy sector, the drinks sector, for small and medium-sized enterprises, industry, manufacturing and lots of other parts of our economy. Any responsible Government has to wait to see what the agreement is and then examine it in the round.

No matter what happens, we will strive to ensure the interests of our beef farmers are protected, first by insisting that the agreement, if it goes through, requires South American countries to meet their obligations under the Paris accords, and it is really important they are tied into this; second by ensuring that any beef exported to the EU from South America meets the same food safety standards and traceability standards as we would expect from our beef farmers and beef industry; and third by making sure that compensatory mechanisms are put in place whereby other markets are opened up to our farmers, as has been the case already in Korea, Japan and Mexico and other places. As the Deputy said, we produce the best beef in the world and when one produces the best beef in the world one can find a market for it and get a good price for it. We need to make sure those markets are open to our farmers.

The Taoiseach will not convince any sensible person, and certainly not any farmer, that he is protecting his or her interests in any shape, make or form by allowing our market to be flooded with South American beef. It makes no sense. Nobody believes the Taoiseach when he gives us this line that he is conscious of the needs of the rural economy and farming families, when out of the other side of his mouth he states the deal needs to be assessed and tested. It sounds like he is quite prepared to throw farming families under the bus if it suits the interests of bigger corporate interests who might wish to export into the large South American market. That is how it sounds to me and how it sounds to the farmers at the gate. What they need to hear from the Taoiseach is an unequivocal commitment to protect their livelihoods. What consumers need to hear from the Taoiseach is an unequivocal commitment to protect standards and the quality of the meat that is consumed here. We produce the best beef in the world. Why in the name of God would we open up our market to substandard produce?

Beef from South America does not comply with the same food standards or traceability requirements. The Taoiseach knows that. The President of Brazil has as much interest in the Paris Agreement or environmental standards as the man in the moon. The Amazon rainforest is known as the lungs of the world. The Government is proposing to puncture the lungs of the world to allow cheap beef imports into the Irish market. That is unforgivable. If the Taoiseach and his Government care about farmers then they should support our motion. That will be the real test and the real yardstick of his rhetoric.

Beef farmers, beef farm families and all of those involved in the beef industry in Ireland have that unequivocal commitment from me and the Government, as do consumers of beef and beef products in this country. Ensuring that we have the highest food safety standards and the highest traceability standards should apply to beef that is imported as well as to beef produced here. We are not doing anything, however, for beef farmers, the beef industry or farm families if we just bury our heads in the sand. We export 90% of the food we produce to other parts of the world. Free trade is good for our food industry. Our food industry is based on free trade. We have to ensure, however, that competition is fair and that anybody competing with our farmers and our food producers meets the same food safety standards, the same environmental standards and the same traceability standards. If that is done, if the playing field is fair, then as the best beef producers in the world we should be able to compete. That is what we need to make sure happens.