Ms Suzanne Drisdelle:

The Canadian Government has a job to do, in Canada and in Europe, to raise awareness of the benefits of CETA. There is a lot of news in the media today. It does not always trickle down. It is a comprehensive agreement. Even here in Ireland, we have reached out to many organisations across the country, including chambers of commerce, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and several business associations in the areas of meat, dairy, whiskey, spirits, food and beverages, to understand the needs of Irish companies but also to ensure that small companies in particular are aware of the benefits of CETA. The Government is absolutely behind the benefits to Europe and to Canadian companies and it has an interest in making sure that is communicated to companies on both sides of the Atlantic.

With regard to ratification, this is a complex and comprehensive agreement. We definitely respect the democratic process of each member state and the discussions that form part of those. As was alluded to earlier, if we are talking about opening it up again, I will say that this is not the time to throw away this opportunity. Right now, Ireland faces the impact of Brexit and needs to address the economic recovery. This is absolutely the time to use frameworks such as CETA to enable companies across all sectors, and especially small companies, to build resilience. As part of our outreach, we spoke to Irish whiskey producers and to the Irish whiskey organisations. Through audits and complementary dialogue and through CETA, they uncovered pricing issues in Canada that were resolved as of 1 April this year because of CETA. Irish whiskey is now more competitively priced in many Canadian provinces because CETA allowed that to happen. There are many other benefits, including benefits for the meat and dairy industries. The data speak for themselves.

This is not the time to consider reopening such a comprehensive agreement. Canada and the EU, including Ireland, are very like one another in our shared values and common approaches. If we cannot figure out a way to create a structure and framework for trading, who else can? We are aligned and like-minded. This negotiated arrangement is based on our common values. We have addressed many of the issues that have been raised and we continue to do so. I refer to issues involving labour and the environment. The Canadian Government and Canada are definitely behind this. We allow member states to carry out their own democratic processes for ratification. I hope that answer's the Deputy's question.