Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the witnesses. I also welcome and thank all the translators, who I understand have a hard job.

The document, A Time for a Treaty, states it is a well-established fact that:

EU and Irish companies are involved in human rights violations and environmental damage including modern slavery, land grabs, child labour, oil spills, deforestation, attacks on human rights defenders, and violence against women.

This is despite thousands of trade and investment agreements being agreed beforehand, according to that document. Was there never any protection put in place within those trade agreements to prevent any of this happening?