Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Clearly, as in the case of all his foreign excursions, the Taoiseach was certainly not idle; he had a full programme.

I want to ask the Taoiseach about two issues. First, he has acknowledged that he discussed with the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Trudeau, the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which we now call CETA. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, answered a parliamentary question on 9 May about the parliamentary ratification of CETA. She said that progress on ratification has commenced in 43 national parliaments and regional assemblies throughout the EU and that it would commence in Ireland shortly. When will those of us in this House have a chance to debate fully and determine assent or otherwise to CETA?

It is agreed at EU level that the agreement would have provisional application until such time as it is formally ratified. That is not a position that I object to but it would be useful to have formal approval or at least a debate in the House on the provisional impact of CETA in advance of formal ratification. I am keen to know whether the Taoiseach agrees that we should have useful discussions on the matter.

During the Taoiseach's visit the Canadian Prime Minister warmly praised the accepting of Syrian refugees. Canada has been very good at that. Unfortunately, our record is not so sterling. Let us consider the situation here. Ireland committed to taking 700 asylum seekers from the resettlement camps in Italy last year and a further 459 from Greece. I understand that the Greek migrants have been accepted but that none have come from Italy because of the ongoing difficulty relating to accepting the vetting systems from the Italian authorities. The European Commission has urged Ireland to resolve this matter. How close are we to resolving it? How many of the 2,600 people that we pledged to take have actually arrived in the country to date?

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