Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to these discussions on TTIP. I am also a member of the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. This is a very important cross-sectoral issue, which does much to enhance the parliamentary oversight of these negotiations. The Joint Committee on European Union Affairs has taken a very active role in monitoring the TTIP negotiations. Last year the committee submitted a political contribution to the EU institutions on the topic and the committee recently met stakeholders from the European Commission, the American and Irish Chambers and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to discuss certain elements of TTIP, in particular the ISDS aspect. At that comprehensive meeting we heard statements from Dr. Tom Healy of the Nevin Economic Research Institute, who stated there is no experience of ISDS in this jurisdiction; that the matter raises complex questions over how the Irish Constitution would operate and possibly in terms of the jurisdiction of Irish courts vis-à-visany external tribunal or mechanism; and that a note of caution needs to be entered there.

Mr. Mark Redmond from the American Chamber said it did not want a deal for the sake it, that it should not be rushed but it wants a comprehensive deal. However, Mr. Mark O'Mahoney of Chambers Ireland stated it should not be rushed for the sake of passing it because the decision might be regretted for years afterwards. He also said we needed a monitoring system to ensure the provisions benefit small and medium-sized enterprises.

Ms Patricia King of ICTU said that Ireland has a perfectly good judicial system and has democratic mechanisms through the Oireachtas to make rules and regulations, and if anybody has a problem with the rules systems are in place to deal with them. She saw no reason for one particular group to have a supranational mechanism. So there is quite a debate on ISDS, which is of concern to many people.

How can we show that the national parliaments retain the right to regulate under the ISDS arrangements? The Chairman of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs, Deputy Hannigan, who gives his apologies for his absence, recently attended an interparliamentary meeting in Paris on the European Union's trade policy and on TTIP. At that meeting there seemed to be a lack of enthusiasm for TTIP among certain larger member states. Does this surprise the Minister and can he comment on it? What does he believe are the main concerns of the larger states?