Last night the EU and Australia came to a trade agreement. As a small open economy, trade is hugely important to us in Ireland. The agreement looks to be a fairly good opportunity for Ireland but I want to draw attention to farmers' needs. They are under pressure with milk prices, fertiliser prices and diesel. Increasing competition at this time is much more challenging for them. What assurances are there for farmers that there will be similar standards in this trade agreement, and that milk and beef farmers will be able to compete on a level playing field following this trade agreement?

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.