Ms Patricia King:

I am not reassured at all. I have heard nothing to indicate that there should be an ISDS mechanism. In fact, I am even more scared by the response because it appears that somebody in a room somewhere will be deciding what goes into it. There is no need for it. Ireland has a perfectly good judicial system and we have the democratic mechanisms through the Oireachtas to make rules and regulations. If anybody has a problem with the rules, systems are in place to deal with them. I see no reason why one particular group would need a supra-national mechanism.

In my opinion, yesterday was a good day for democracy because it meant the parliamentarians in Europe had to listen and were not able to make a decision. Some will argue that they dithered rather than making a decision, because the general view prior to the meeting was that the decision would pass, but I welcome that it did not.

In respect of jobs, ICTU represents hundreds of thousands of workers in this State. We have every reason to be concerned about protecting jobs. In many cases we work positively with employers. Some of the best collective agreements operate in the chemical and pharmaceuticals industry. It is not a question of broad brush strokes or going into a negative space. The companies with which we negotiate include some of the best employers in this State. However, if Europe and the United States agrees this trade agreement it will impact on the food industry and the number of people who are currently involved in preparing meat for exports. Up to 90% of our beef is exported to Europe in one form or another. The agreement will open that trade to America, which will be able to flood the European market with beef. Ireland's exports will no longer be wanted and the jobs in those factories will be endangered. What will the ISDS do for the workers when they lose their jobs? I think the answer to that is "nothing".

The Copenhagen document is very sympathetic to TTIP but it does not hide the issue of displacement. As my colleague from the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland noted, foreign direct investment underpins 130,000 jobs in Ireland. When Bausch + Lomb got into difficulties, we had to take an adult approach to reaching an agreement that would save jobs. However, if this is opened to the rest of Europe, Ireland will no longer have preferential arrangements for FDI. These companies will be able to take advantage of the cheap labour options in Eastern European countries, and the result will be displacement. The Copenhagen response is that if we lose a factory employing 1,000 people in one region, we will make up the job losses somewhere else in the country. That level of displacement will be damaging to the workers who lose their jobs and to the country's economy. I would expect the SME sector to be concerned about that, given its linkages with larger companies in Ireland. We take no comfort from the documentation or the reports that have been prepared thus far. I remind the committee that the negotiations were conducted in secret until recently. The negotiators did not like people asking questions about the process. When we are asked in meetings of workers about whether the agreement will affect them, I cannot tell them there will be no displacement of employment and that an ISDS will look after them when they lose their jobs. That is the basis for ICTU's concerns.