Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 November 2021
55. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when the motion seeking ratification of CETA will be made in Dáil Éireann given his comments at the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs in relation to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55065/21]
View answerRatifying CETA is Government policy and an objective of mine as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
As a country, we owe our relative prosperity to the goods and services produced by our people and our land, which we sell around the world. This formula has worked well. It is based on international trade, our attractiveness as a place to invest and our ability to enter into international free trade agreements with other countries.
CETA has provisionally applied since 21st September 2017, whereby those areas for which the EU has "full competence" under the Treaties are in force.
As I set out in my appearances before the Joint Oireachtas Committees on EU Affairs and on Enterprise Trade & Employment, when each reviewed CETA, provisional application has seen Goods exports to Canada increase from €953 million in 2016 to more than €1.7 billion in 2020 - an an increase of 78% in a little over five years. And Services exports grew from €1.6 billion in 2016 to more than €2.3 billion in 2019, an increase of 44%. These figures demonstrate the benefits of CETA and trade agreements.
I had originally sought to bring the relevant ratification motion for CETA before Dáil Éireann last December but as the Deputy is aware, this was postponed.
While I welcome the scrutiny at Committee, I do not want ratification delayed and drifting indefinitely, and for Ireland to have to stand by and watch other EU member states ratify it ahead of us, as the majority have. That would send out the wrong message to the world.
The ratification process for CETA has also been subject to legal challenges. On foot of a case taken by Deputy Patrick Costello, the High Court has confirmed that there is no requirement for a referendum before ratification can be considered by the House. Senator Lynn Boylan has also initiated High Court action on ratification and I hope that the Courts could facilitate an early hearing of this application as it did with Deputy Costello's challenge.
As the Deputy will be aware given his involvement in the publication of a report by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs, there are strongly held differences of opinion on CETA, principally in the area of Investment Protection. Those opinions can be expressed through a democratic vote in the Dáil in due course. An exact date for that vote has not yet been set by the Government.
