Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When Greenpeace released the document in April there was a lot of denial about its contents. I went to the reading room in the Department and compared the released document with a similar document in the agreement. I was not allowed to bring anything out of the reading room but I was able to make comparisons. I discovered that the Greenpeace document was 100% accurate, which is even more worrying. The truth of the matter is that climate change, the environment, workers' rights and consumer protection will be undermined by the agreement. The Minister said we would be able to change the agreement by voting on it, but the Council of Ministers will make the decision and the agreement can be ratified even without each member state's parliament voting for it. The agreement would automatically be introduced for three years and much damage would be done even if we chose to vote against it in this country. The situation is very worrying. I do not blame the Minister but we must take the issue much more seriously. We should be very concerned about what is coming down the tracks.

See this speech in context