Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There has not been any specific risk assessment of what CETA might mean in terms of its public expenditure implications. I would point to the overall context within which our economy operates and our experience over the last ten or 11 months of living with Covid-19. The reality is that the role of FDI in Ireland and our position as an open, trading economy has, in many ways, helped us to absorb some of the enormous shock of Covid-19. This is clear from the number of jobs that have been sustained, the corporation tax paid and the income tax receipts underpinned by employment in the FDI sector. Ireland's place in the world is as a small, open trading economy with a very strong enterprise sector. That is why the Cabinet today approved an additional €90 million for Enterprise Ireland for the sustaining enterprises fund. Many of the businesses that will avail of funding from a scheme like the sustaining enterprises fund will be seeking export opportunities to countries like Canada. In that regard, from the perspective of the Irish Government, the opportunities of CETA far outweigh the risks.