Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 November 2014
117. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the timeframe regarding the introduction of the transatlantic trade and investment partnership; when it is likely to be discussed in Dáil Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44363/14]
View answerSeven formal rounds and numerous inter-sessional meetings have taken place in the sixteen months that have passed since the launch of the negotiations in June last year. While I am not aware that a date has yet been set for the eighth round, I expect that it will most likely take place early next year. It is not possible at this stage to say when the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) might be concluded.
I welcome all opportunities to discuss TTIP and in this regard, I was very pleased to have been invited within the last year to brief and have exchanges with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs Enterprise and Innovation and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs.
I was also very pleased to have invited Oireachtas members from relevant Joint Committees to a conference on TTIP that I hosted in Dublin Castle on 20 June. At that conference, attendees heard some preliminary findings from a study commissioned by my Department that indicate that a comprehensive trade and investment deal between the EU and the US could lead to a 1.1% increase in Irish GDP, a 2.7% increase in exports, a 1.4% increase in real wages, and a 1.6% increase in investment.
