Rose Conway-Walsh criticises government's stance on Mercosur
Rose Conway-Walsh addressed the Mercosur trade deal, commending Sinn Féin MEPs Lynne Boylan and Kathleen Funcion and the left group for referring the agreement to the European Court of Justice and criticised the government's inconsistent stance. She spoke as a rural TD emphasising farming, food security and environmental protection and warned that court referrals create long uncertainty for farmers.
Legal challenge and European Parliament outcome
She praised the work of Sinn Féin MEPs Lynne Boylan and Kathleen Funcion and the left group including Luke Ming, Flanagan for a narrowly won move to refer the Mercosur deal to the European Court of Justice, which was decided in the European Parliament yesterday.
Government division and parliamentary confusion
She accused government MEPs of being split in their actions and described the episode as a spectacle and 'codology', challenging the Tánaiste and the government to state clearly whether they are for or against the Mercosur deal.
Farming, food security and uncertainty
Speaking as a rural TD, she said farming matters, food security matters and environmental protection matters, and argued that sending the matter to the courts has injected up to two years of uncertainty for Irish and European farmers instead of allowing a direct yes-or-no vote in the Parliament.
Provisional enactment and demand for clarity
She raised the question of the provisional enactment suggested by Ursula van der Leyen and asked whether the government will act to stop it, insisting MEPs should have been given a straightforward vote rather than turning to the courts.
Democratic debate and performative politics
She defended the right to speak in the chamber, rejected claims of performative politics, said the government backs farmers, and urged clearer parliamentary decision-making rather than reliance on court referrals.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
The legal challenge initiated by Sinn Féin, MEPs, Lynne Boylan and Kathleen Funcion and the left group, which includes Luke Ming, Flanagan, to refer the Mercosur trade deal to the European Court of Justice was narrowly but thankfully won in the European Parliament yesterday. I commend them and indeed Deputy Kinney here for their months and their years of hard work. And I stand here as a rural TD where farming matters, where food security matters and where environmental protection matters. The thing about rural people is they say what they mean and they mean what they say. Now this is in complete contrast to the carry-on and the codology of the government's stance on Mercosur which reached a pinnacle to extraordinary spectacle yesterday where half of the government MEPs voted against the referral to the ECG test and half of them voted against it, whether the agreement was in breach of the EU law or not. So what is it, Thóniste? Is your party and your government of Fianna Fáil, Fianna Gael and the Lowry independence for or against the Mercosur deal? The provisional enactment of the deal has now been suggested by Ursula van der Leyen that she's going to put that through. Are you going to stop them? But how can you stop them if you don't know which side you're on? You're engaging in what our counterpart across the Atlantic Ocean would call fake news. This government opposed the Mercosur agreement. No, Deputy, no, you had your say. This government, allow me speak too. In the democracy, allow me speak too. Thank you. This is not a kangaroo court. You speak, I speak. Thank you. So you made an assertion and I'm going to answer it very clearly. The government voted against the Mercosur agreement. There was no vote yesterday in the European Parliament on the Mercosur agreement. You know what there should have been? There should have been a yay or nay vote. What people have done by saying to the courts, will you have a look at it, is they've injected uncertainty for up to two years for Irish farmers, for European farmers, at a time of enough uncertainty. You know what vote I would have liked to take place yesterday? A yes or a no vote. I've never needed as a parliamentarian the courts to tell me what way to vote. I wanted a situation where MEPs of all sides had a chance to vote yes or no, not run off to the courts for the next two years. So don't misrepresent our position. We know exactly where we stand. This government has the backs of farmers, but it doesn't believe in performative politics. Deputy.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
