Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Unlike Deputy Durkan I do not want any more documentation. I have attempted to read these agreements, which are quite substantial, and the Minister of State's contribution. It is all contained in the documentation if one can fully understand it. It is terribly technical.

It is very important to be reassured that the Minister of State is the person arguing in favour of these agreements. The Minister of State covers a very important portfolio, encompassing overseas development aid. If we were to be fearful of what he is trying to implement on behalf of Ireland within the EU, it would beg the question as to whether he is being honest with us parliamentarians given that we are very enthusiastic about and supportive of the Irish Aid development programmes on which we engage with the Minister of State.

The last time I was involved in this type of debate was when we discussed similar agreements with Colombia, Peru and Europe. One must respect the role of NGOs in the field and their perspective of what is happening with big brother, big governments or big regional authorities. I would hate the wrong image to go out from this meeting to the ambassadors of the seven African countries who meet this committee once a year as a group. When they appear before the committee they insist that they want Africa to be seen as a trading area, they do not want this old image of poor quality agriculture production. They want to be seen as a continent that is growing and bustling, and wants and is arguing in favour of trade. Who am I to tell the west African countries that they have it wrong because NGOs have pointed to some possible negative effects?

The Minister of State will know that I am a fanatical supporter of one of the agencies he supports financially. It is called Fair Trade produce. I only buy fair trade bananas and a wide range of fair trade produce, including coffees and other products. When I give my imprimatur to this deal, I want the people to know that I support it and I want the Minister of State to convey our support for the development of fair trade in the real sense of fairly trading.

I want to ask two questions. Who am I to argue against these agreements when so many African nations are arguing for and signing up to them? From reading this documentation, the missing link in the context of the agreement is Nigeria, which is the biggest country we are talking about and which is conspicuous by its absence. Yesterday, I was attended the Latvian national day celebrations and I called over and had a chat with the Nigerian ambassador. It may not be appropriate but I told him that we would be debating this issue and asked him if he had any preliminary direction on his country's thinking in respect of it. He said that it would be favouring it. If one looks at the documentation, Nigeria is one of the three countries that have not yet signed the agreement. The other two are Gambia and Mauritania. The governments of these states do not need me to shout on their behalf but I will make the case for them, especially those in west Africa. If I have read the documentation correctly, I see that there is an East African Community and Southern African Development Community EPA. If we imagine Africa as a continent and see that at least two of its big regional power brokers have already negotiated, signed and sealed EPAs with Europe, who are we to dictate to the west African countries that somehow or other we know more than they do about the implications of this? Therefore, if my interpretation is correct, we are saying that we will not ratify it even though their competitors on the continent of Africa have ratified these two agreements.

Where do I get my sense of security? Many of these documents refer to the role of the International Labour Organisation, ILO, which can and is likely to be consulted. There are also provisions to protect and uphold workers' rights and environmental standards, which is very important. It says that the ILO can be brought in to advise on labour rights. I do not want to sound as though I have swallowed this whole document in one clean swoop but I would appreciate the Minister of State's opinion on these two key issues. Why has Nigeria not yet signed up? How can we talk about west Africa without the biggest and most important of all the countries in the region being party to it? Can the Minister of State confirm that the neighbours on the continent, the Southern African Development Community and the East African Community, have already signed up to these agreements?