Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have had conversations with other Ministers about this. I imagine we will be in contact with the new Canadian Government when it is established but it looks like the new Canadian Government will be the same as the previous one. They would be very much urging us to ratify this and are big supporters of the agreement and want closer ties with Ireland and the EU.

With regard to discussions at EU level, it barely features at Trade Council. I am sure it has come up on the side. It is there in documents but I have not heard any substantive debate about CETA at the EU trade Council because the expectation is that this will be ratified. It was negotiated and agreed years ago and ratified by the European Parliament already. Most member states have ratified. No member state has rejected it. I note Cyprus has done what it has done but it has not rejected it definitively. There is nobody talking about a plan B, a renegotiation or a what if. We would throw a spanner in the works if we were to decide that we were to be the only country to definitively reject it.