The Irish government and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine have been urged to be "firm and unapologetic in their outright opposition" to the EU-Mercosur trade deal by the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA).

The IFA Livestock chair, Declan Hanrahan, today (Tuesday, April 1) said Minister Martin Heydon and his government colleagues must be stronger in their opposition of the deal "for the future viability Irish suckler and beef farmers".

Last week Minister Heydon said that the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement has been economically “adjudged” to cost the beef sector here €50 million.

But this was a much different figure compared to that outlined in analysis that had been carried out by Meat Industry Ireland (MII), which said that the Mercosur deal will see the Irish beef sector hit for between €100 million and €130 million.

The IFA Livestock chair has now claimed that Minister Heydon's comments appeared to "make light of the impact of Mercosur on Irish beef farmers".

"They must be strong in their opposition to this trade deal,” Hanrahan added.

He believes the minister's statements were "incredibly flippant" at what he described as a critical stage of "building alliances to have this deal rejected". 

Hanrahan said: "The suckler and beef sector in Ireland is a low-income vulnerable sector with average incomes of just €9,500 and €17,000 respectively last year,

"It is unbelievable our minister for agriculture could be so flippant about a negative economic impact of €50 million on us.

He also believes it is "concerning" that Minister Heydon has refuted the potential impact on the sector.

According to Hanrahan, suckler and beef farmers "have just turned a corner and are finally getting a price for what we produce"

He believes that it is not a time for complacency from Minister Heydon.

“These market conditions must be protected and stopping an extra 99,000t of South American beef entering the EU market through the flawed Mercosur deal is vital,” he said.