Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The point I am making is that there has been a certain narrative abroad suggesting that any free trade agreement is anathema to Ireland's interests, and that they are evil and should be condemned. CETA has been condemned even before it has been debated here.

I remember when I was Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment I opened an Enterprise Ireland office in Toronto. Why did we open an office there? It was to get access and provide information and networking for Irish companies to sell their goods and services.

The economy of Ireland depends on selling its goods and services abroad. There are people in this House who believe that we should stop all of that and cut it at the knees. That is the view from the anti-austerity people. Sinn Féin has a negative view of free trade agreements too. We seldom hear positive affirmation of the idea of free trade in this House or of the idea that, as a small island economy, we need to sell our goods and services abroad, including food, intellectual property, project management services and so on. We are fantastic at software. Many countries throughout the world are keen to access our software. The same applies to pharmaceutical technology and so on. If we go down the road of protectionism and try to put up shutters, then we will ruin the Irish economy in future. There must be some resistance or balance in the debate in this House.

That is why I am critical of the fact that a debate has not been scheduled. It need not be a debate for approval; it could simply be an open debate on the merits of a free trade agreement with Canada, which shares the same standards, by and large, environmentally and in the food industry. Across the board Canada has the same type of liberal open democratic economy and society that we enjoy. Of course there is toing and froing and give and take in such agreements. For God's sake, we should be urging the conclusion of this agreement between the European Union and Canada. It will be to the betterment of Irish companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises, but we never hear that.

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