Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus leis na hAirí as teacht os comhair an chruinnithe seo. We know that the Government is planning to ratify CETA. As the Ministers are aware, it provides for the investor court system, which is a legal mechanism that will allow large corporations to sue the State for massive sums of money. This has the potential to have a significant impact on the budgetary position both directly in terms of a reduction in available spend because of legal costs incurred and indirectly in terms of tax foregone because the presence of the investor court system may act as a deterrent to Governments using the tax system to modify corporate behaviour. My question is for both Ministers. What risk analyses have been done by the Department of Finance with regard to the corporate tax base and by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with regard to the impact legal payouts would have on public expenditure?