Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I asked the Minister to outline the way in which the regulatory co-operation forum set up under the CETA agreement will function. In response, the Minister told me that it will mean fewer barriers and will make it easier for EU countries to do business. She also said that the forum will only be able to make recommendations. It will have no effect on how regulations are formulated. The Minister is telling us that the forum is just a talking shop with no power. It is just another smoke screen and will not serve any real purpose.

The Minister said that the forum will make it easier for EU countries to do business. This Government regularly boasts that this is a great little country in which to do business and it is - for big business. If one has a small business or a family business, this is not an easy country in which to do business. It is a great place if one is running a multinational corporation or a large foreign direct investment company but trying to run a small business in Ireland today is not easy.

CETA will make the playing field even less level and more unfair and I cannot see how it will benefit the people of Ireland.

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