The Irish Government is to vote against the EU-Mercosur trade deal, An Tánaiste Simon Harris has confirmed.

He said that the Government’s position on Mercosur has “always been clear: we did not support the deal in the form in which it was presented”.

Harris said that the outcome of negotiations on the deal is that although a number of additional measures have been implemented to protect vulnerable sectors, “they are not sufficient to satisfy our citizens”.

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“So our position stands. We will vote against the agreement,” he said.

Over recent weeks, he said he, An Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon and Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee have been “intensively engaged, working right across the system to secure the best possible outcome for Ireland”.

Reality

“That work has been carried out on two parallel tracks, though that reality has sometimes been lost in the noise of public commentary.

“First, we have been engaging closely with like-minded countries that share our concerns.

“Second, we have been working constructively to secure additional safeguards that would address the very real concerns of our citizens, particularly in relation to standards, fairness and protections. This is what responsible government looks like,” he said.

No vote

Speaking in China on Thursday, An Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that a lot of obligations have been placed on farmers over the years, particularly from a climate perspective.

“We now have one of the most carbon-efficient food production systems in the world and we put a lot of regulations, rightly so, that are very stringent in respect of consumers protection, food safety, carbon efficiency and climate protection measures.”

He said Ireland worked with France and Italy to enhance the safeguards in the deal.

“But we have to be confident that the standards we have set now and the obligations placed on Irish and European farmers are not undermined by food production systems that are not as carbon efficient and don’t have the same stringent standards,” he said.

He said that based on the standards placed on Irish farmers, “our sense is we don’t have confidence that they won’t be undercut”.

“Based on that, the Government will be voting no.”