Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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We support it. We are the lead Department on following the file through the European process. It is done through the European Competitiveness Council, COMPET, so the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, attends that rather than I. We do want to get it right. Companies that use child labour or destroy the environment need to be called out for doing so, and consumers have a right to know when they buy a product or service that child labour is not used, that people are not exploited and that the environment is not destroyed in the process. Therefore, we support it but we want to get it right. We do not want to put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage to other countries and lose jobs or revenue here, and we do not want to impose overly onerous information obligations on businesses where there is nothing to be necessarily gained from it. I will ask Mr. Newham to add to that in terms of our dealings with other countries, as he would be more familiar with that than I am.