The EU-Mercosur agreement is "not a good deal" for Irish farmers and it is "really important that government stands firm", Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore has urged.

This comes as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon is due to meet this weekend with his European counterparts at the informal meeting of the AgriFish Council.

Within Europe, there are some countries "that will do very well" out of the deal and therefore are the ones pushing for it, the deputy said, warning that it is unlikely to be beneficial for Ireland.

The process of ratifying the EU-Mercosur deal is now underway.

This follows the deal's adoption this week by the European Commission.

An 'emergency brake' proposed by the commission could allow for import duties to be temporarily raised if South American beef floods the EU market - however, deputy Whitmore said this brake is "this little sort of fluff" to try and get the deal through.

"I do not think anybody is going to be fooled by it," she said.

Deputy Whitmore told Agriland she is concerned about the lack of safeguards environmentally, and that it seems as though environmental issues "have been completely forgotten" in this deal.

The safeguards proposed by the commission are "not going to protect Irish farmers", and the Wicklow TD fears "there is still a huge risk that there will be huge market distortion and an impact financially on farmers in this country".

The deputy said she has been asking the government "repeatedly" for months "what alliances they are building, who are they talking to, because it was clear" that the impending Mercosur deal "was going to be problematic".

"I think that work should have been done, there should be a strong alliance in Europe that is pushing back on this. I don't know whether they've left it too late," the deputy added.

Independent TD Carol Nolan has said that the entire deal process has been a "bureaucratic and institutional stampede by the EU Commission".

"It has effectively walked all over this government and indeed the previous government, often with the help of ministers who did more to enable this destructive outcome than resist it," the Offaly TD said.

“As for the so-called ‘emergency brake’ that will be pulled if the Irish market is overwhelmed; that has to be one of the most egregious examples of an EU Commission taking Irish farmers for absolute fools.

"This must be the line in the sand for the Irish government with respect to the EU and its disregard for Irish farmers and producers."

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon this week said that the government is to examine the deal in detail "to see if it provides any of the additional assurances required".

Pending that examination, the minister said that Ireland's position on the EU-Mercosur agreement "remains as clearly outlined" in the programme for government: "work with like-minded EU countries to stand up for Irish farmers and defend our interests in opposing the current Mercosur trade deal".