Diverse views on TTIP potential heard at EU Affairs Committee

5 June 2014

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs this afternoon heard a diverse range of viewpoints on the on-going talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP).

While the potential positives from eradicating tariff and non-tariff barriers for Ireland were highlighted by business representatives, a prominent researcher cautioned that such an Agreement carried considerable risks.

Business representatives Simon McKeever of the Irish Exporters Association (IEA) and Pat Ivory of Ibec as well as Dr Werner Raza of the Austrian Foundation for Development Research were addressing the Committee. 

Chairman of the Committee Dominic Hannigan TD says: “We thank the witnesses for a stimulating debate on the pros and cons of a transatlantic trade deal.  Simon McKeever and Pat Ivory declared their strong support for the TTIP agreement on behalf of their respective organisations. Recognising that our prosperity is increasingly determined by international linkages, it was argued that an open economy such as Ireland’s was well placed to benefit from such agreement. The Committee heard that Irish Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) stood to gain significantly from the reduction in bureaucracy in exporting their products to the US market. For instance, the duplication in product testing on both sides of the Atlantic imposes a disproportionate cost on SMEs and, as such, any harmonisation of regulations would be welcomed by the sector. 

“The Committee gained considerably from the alternative perspective of Dr Werner Raza, who cautioned that the risks from a TTIP agreement were being ignored by policy-makers. Dr Raza agreed that the economic impact of such an agreement would be on balance positive. However, he said the benefits would most likely accrue in the longer term, and that there could be significant losers in the short term. He pointed to concerns around job losses in certain sectors, the potential social and environmental costs from harmonisation and a loss to public revenues from the elimination of tariffs. He said it was important that the potential risks from such an agreement receive more attention from policy-makers as the negotiations advance.

\"Members and witnesses were at one in calling for greater public debate in advance of what would be a ground-breaking agreement, creating the largest trading bloc in the world. As such, this Committee will providing a valuable public forum to air these important issues around the TTIP negotiations, with a view to ensuring the potential advantages and risks for Ireland are comprehensively debated.”

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Committee Membership
Deputies: Eric Byrne, Seán Crowe, Timmy Dooley, Bernard J. Durkan, John Halligan, Dominic Hannigan (Chair), Seán Kyne, Dara Murphy (Vice-Chair) and Joe O’Reilly
Senators: Colm Burke, Aideen Hayden, Terry Leyden, Catherine Noone and Kathryn Reilly