Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy raised the point about transparency. It was during Ireland's Presidency that authorisation was received to put in place the discussions that would lead to the TTIP. This was followed on the American side with the declaration by President Obama at the G8 Summit in Fermanagh that the talks should begin immediately. As I stated, the seventh round took place in September.

Commissioner Malmström outlined two proposals recently for boosting transparency. The first is to extend access to the texts dealing with TTIP to all members of the European Parliament beyond the limited group that currently receives them, the European Parliament's international trade committee. All Members of Parliament will be able to gain access to the documents, including restricted texts, through a reading room facility. Second, the Commissioner took a decision to publish texts setting out the European Union's specific negotiating proposals on TTIP after each negotiating round. These will be made available through the Commission's website. From that point of view, the process is very open and transparent, and it is now being made more so. The Commissioner presented the proposals on TTIP transparency to the international trade committee of the European Parliament on December 2014, and they were also discussed with member states at a meeting of the trade policy committee on 5 December 2014. This, of course, was discussed at the European Council meeting in some detail. The European Council gave its authorisation during our Presidency. We were to seek the approval of the European Parliament so the discussions could begin, and that is what has happened.

I agree with the Deputy that we have particular issues. One of the big obstacles at present for the dairy sector is the question of grade-A equivalence, or the failure by the US authorities to recognise EU and Irish milk production standards, particularly for milk powders, as being equivalent. This is an important issue for us. There was some progress made.

At our behest, Ireland was added to the list of two other European Union member states taking part in a pilot project to move this forward. We recently hosted an inspection by the US Food and Drug Administration and await its report.

Progress has also been made in seeking access for Irish beef to the United States. This matter is not part of the trade negotiations; rather, the restrictions imposed by the United States on beef from Ireland and the rest of the European Union are a hangover from the BSE crisis. The US inspection of Irish plants last summer was very successful and this may be the first country in Europe to gain access to the United States for beef. I am sure this would be welcomed by everybody, particularly those involved in the beef sector. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, has made it very clear that Ireland is exceptionally sensitive about its beef production standards for the reasons mentioned by the Deputy. He has also made it clear to the US Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Vilsack, who was in Ireland recently that our plan in the negotiations is to ensure the Irish beef sector is declared sensitive and afforded protection.

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