It goes without saying we are in a world with absolute double standards at this point and it is not a case of what is good for the goose is good for the gander. With Iran, I think we are all in agreement that no one wants to see protesters who are out protesting against higher costs, and the other particular issues they have, die and nobody wants to see executions. None of this is good enough but we also have to call out all that is being done at the minute. I am not entirely sure what the western world even means any more but if we are talking about the European Commission and the moral high ground, it is very difficult to have that when it will call out one actor but not another. The actor we will not call out sufficiently at this time is Donald Trump given the fact that whatever leader he does not like, he is just going to take them out, kidnap them and do whatever. When I watched that press conference by him, Pete Hegseth, Maro Rubio and others it reminded me of myself at about 12 years of age after watching "The A-Team" or something because that is the level we are talking about. Only it is not funny because of what they are doing which is death and destruction and the international rulebook going out the window and being absolutely burnt. Deputy Mac Lochlainn is right because I have spoken lately to those in Clogherhead in my constituency who talked about how difficult it was to be a fisherman and how difficult it was for the fishing industry but now they see absolutely no future whatsoever. I will be honest that I did not make to Athlone to protest against the absolute disaster for Irish farming that Mercosur is. I did not make it there because a number of farmers contacted me as they were having their own protest in Dundalk. It was a very short one in support of Athlone because they wanted their voices recognised due to the fact the Government went against the deal at the last minute way. Farmers told me they could not see that as being anything other than disingenuous. What they need to see now from the Government, which I hope the Minister of State will give some information on, is a roadmap for taking action to oppose properly the current deal which is bad for people's health and bad for Irish farming. We are talking about almost 100,000 tonnes of beef coming from South America and 180,000 tonnes of poultry that could contain hormones, antibiotics and materials farmers across Europe cannot use. We are endangering people's health and for what? We all accept the need for commerce and free trade deals. However, we need to protect not only the environment but also the health of the people and the health of the sustainable farming industry. We can talk about Sudan, Palestine and Greenland but we need to see less of the double standards and we need to see the Government standing up for a real deal in relation to what a just world is.

Sentiment score: -0.12

Following on from that, could we have some answers regarding where the Irish Government proposes to go as regards Mercosur and some element of push back? We obviously know there is to be a vote by MEPs. The question has been asked on what way Government MEPs will vote. Beyond that, what engagement will there be with the rest of the MEPs across Europe? We need to keep maximum pressure on, whether that is to achieve absolute success or even to ensure the deal is made better, even at this late stage. We know the huge dangers from a health point of view but also for Irish farming in particular. I also wish to ask about where we stand now as regards Donald Trump and his threats in respect of Greenland. While we may have laughed this off at one stage, we cannot necessarily do that at this point. It absolutely puts a hand grenade among what anyone would have believed to be, for want of a better term, the rules of engagement. We all know that Europe and the European Commission have done huge work to make sure the Internet is a safe place but further work needs to be done. We know the whole issue of Grok, which can be seen at the minute as nothing other than a child pornography factory. It is engagement at European level that we need, as well as action here in Ireland.

Sentiment score: 0.34

Not monitoring.

Sentiment score: 0.00