There will be a significant impact today on Questions on Policy or Legislation. It is likely the last three Members will not be taken. I call Deputy Mary Lou McDonald.

The Mercosur fiasco has the Taoiseach's fingerprints all over it. He claimed for years that he was defending Irish interests, yet when the decisive moment came Ireland was left isolated in a tiny minority because the Taoiseach had failed to lead, build alliances and act. France and Poland took a stand and Austria and Hungary likewise. Belgium could not support the deal an the Netherlands made its opposition clear. Ireland, on the Taoiseach’s watch, showed up late, voted “No” and utterly failed to influence events. Now this dangerous deal advances, threatening Irish farmers and exposing consumers to low standards, weaker traceability and food produced in ways that we would not tolerate here. Why did the Taoiseach let this happen? Why did he fail to build the blocking coalition that was clearly possible? Will he finally accept that his complacency, dithering and deference to Brussels have put Irish livelihoods, the environment and consumers at real risk?

That is nonsense. Everything the Deputy has asserted in relation to that issue is absolute nonsense. Over the last year, since we came into Government, we have negotiated strongly on behalf of Irish farmers on a number of fronts, including securing an extension of the nitrates derogation, which is very important for the overall agricultural industry and economy. In respect of Mercosur, we have negotiated very significant safeguards across the board, not just in terms of sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, but also new legal instruments from the Commission, market safeguards and coming down from 10% to 5% either in reduced pricing or in volume of products. These are very significant protections that were not there. Legally binding commitments have now been put in place. That said, we do not believe they were sufficient in terms of what Irish farmers require and particularly in terms of the environmental obligations that have been placed on Irish farmers.