Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy may have listened to debates in the European Parliament, but it does not sound like he learned anything from them, because the mandate specifically excludes all those social protection areas. Countries will have the right to pursue public policy objectives in all these areas under a model such as that set out with Canada. The Canada agreement has an investor protection mechanism, and environmental protection is perfectly within the rights of governments. Clearly, investor protection is an important part of any trade agreement. If one is investing, ones want to ensure - I listed the items - that one is not arbitrarily discriminated against. It is quite reasonable to put such protections into EU agreements. They are in the Canada agreement and they will be in all future agreements. Under the Lisbon treaty, we have given the European Union the ability to negotiate such protections. They give our investors certainty in the countries in which we invest, and the same is true of the parties with whom we are negotiating. Investors, including Chinese or Indian investors who do not have familiarity with our legal system, will want to see that the basic ingredients are protected, and that is the purpose of these mechanisms.

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