Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

CETA is a trade agreement and, to be fair, we are talking about Brexit and concerns we have about Irish exporters losing trade to the UK. We want to be able to trade with Canada. We already have a good export trade with Canada but we could improve the situation for Irish exporters.

As Deputy Wallace is aware, the provisional application excludes the investment court. We have a new EU agreement with South Korea, which has led to a 25% increase in Irish exports there. That is real evidence that trade agreements work for Irish exporters and create Irish jobs. When I travel around the country and meet families they are concerned about jobs. I am aware Deputy Wallace has a later question about jobs in Wexford. People want to make sure that we are a good trading nation and that markets are open to us. I do not agree with Deputy Wallace's analysis of CETA.

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