Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree. We will have a debate on free trade with Canada in respect of the Deputy's request. I will see that it happens. It is a very good thing. For the Deputy's information, the provisional application is a standard part of trade agreements and allows those parts of the agreement on which the EU has competence to proceed. CETA provides for provisional application, as the process for ratification across all member states may take a number of years. In Ireland's case, the Dáil will be part of the final decision, which is not what the Deputy was talking about there but a debate on the benefits of free trade. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has observed many times that we export Irish agricultural products to over 180 countries and that is where our strength is built, the Deputy rightly points out. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation supports the provisional application as it allows for Irish medium-sized enterprises to export tariff-free to Canada.

Finally, I point out that 38,000 emigrants from Ireland - immigrants to Canada - went to Toronto in 1847, when the population of that city was only 20,000. They were welcomed with open arms. I want to commend Robert Kearns and his people on the wonderful memorial they have built on the shores of the lake there to those Irish emigrants. They are now moving to commemorate the medics who worked with people from the Irish community, many of whom died from diseases such as typhoid and cholera. This is an important debate which we will have.

See this speech in context