Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

It interesting that we are having this debate when the wealthiest people in the world are congregating in Davos to discuss the world economic situation. The recent Oxfam report, which showed a massive and increasing transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich, was interesting. People have mentioned different numbers. The figures I have show that 62 people, 53 of which are men, have as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the world's population - 3.5 billion people. The top 1% now own more than the other 99%. What a world we are living in when we have a situation where that amount of wealth has been transferred to that top 1% over the past decade. An Oxfam spokesperson said that this accelerating inequality was the result of policy choices and I agree with him. These policy choices are the same policies being negotiated in TTIP.

Essentially, TTIP is about strengthening the position of transnational corporations and further weakening the rights of workers and trade unions. I am not the only one who believes this. Many trade unions and non-governmental organisations also believe it is happening. It has been kept behind closed doors since 2001 and only when people started asking questions were governments, ministers and MEPs forced to step out of that dark room. It seeks to open up public services to these corporations and to reduce regulation across a wide range of matters like food safety, the environment, banking and the rights of national governments.

Deputy Pringle mentioned mutual recognition and harmonisation. I am particularly concerned about food safety. I believe TTIP will attempt to introduce EU standards closer to those of the US. A total of 70% of all food sold in US supermarkets contains genetically modified ingredients while food sold in the EU contains none. The US allows growth hormones in beef while the EU does not. The US has much looser regulation on the use of pesticides. The EU bans 1,200 products for use in cosmetics while in the US, only 12 are banned.

The EU has admitted that TTIP will cost jobs in Europe. The North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, a similar agreement to TTIP involving the US, Canada and Mexico, has brought about the loss of 1 million US jobs as opposed to the increase that was promised when it was first initiated.

TTIP is a threat to democracy. One of its main aims is the investor-state dispute settlement, ISDS, which will allow corporations to sue governments if government policies cause a loss of profits. This is the reason why it is there. It is one of the most insidious parts of TTIP. I simply do not believe the points made by the Minister earlier and his promises on workers' rights, safety and environmental laws, public service and regulations. The entire purpose of TTIP is to weaken these areas to facilitate transnational corporations. This is why MEPs in the European Parliament voted to postpone a decision on TTIP in the summer reflecting the huge concern among ordinary people and the pressure put on MEPs. A total of 3.3 million people-----

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