Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 20 June 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Ireland's Trade Relationship with Canada: Discussion
Mr. Jonathan O'Hara:
The investor-state dispute settlement mechanism has been less controversial in Canada, and a lot of the fact that it has been less controversial - not uncontroversial but less controversial - goes to the Deputy's point that we are talking about the EU and Canada. These are relatively open countries dealing with the rule of law, so it has not been nearly as challenging in Canada as it has been in some other countries. CETA is already provisionally enforced and is doing a lot of very good things, even despite this small piece that is controversial. In some ways CETA gets a little unfair negative publicity because there is this small controversial piece. It is controversial for good reasons - I recognise that - but, as a whole, CETA has been very effective. I do not know if that answers the Deputy's question quite as pointedly as he wanted it answered.