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

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform continues to review, but there is no plan for a major review of the criteria. However, I will engage with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform on the issues the Deputy has raised. She raised all these issues of regional imbalance which I was keen to address along with net zero carbon emissions. She mentioned the western rail corridor. Two assessments of the costs and the value for money have come in on that. They will be published on the website. In the meantime, the Minister will engage in an all-island rail review in collaboration with the Northern authorities to see how we can make best use of the public transport system and rail in particular to help rebalance the economic development of the country.

Deputies mentioned the Debenhams and Arcadia workers. The State, through taxpayers' funds and through the Social Insurance Fund, is the one actor in all of this that has stood the test of time and has never failed to come forward to support workers through statutory redundancy. The State has paid out millions of euro in terms of Debenhams. Whatever system is devised cannot allow rogue employers get it away with it either. The Clerys model would not apply to Debenhams or to Arcadia. There were different issues there.

The employers have responsibility and the State cannot pick up the pieces for all sorts of employers who may or may not do things. Some employers legitimately go into liquidation because of market conditions, and in some cases a liquidation may not be anybody's fault and may be because of changing economic circumstances and what is happening in the market. The retail sector is going through a rough time. The combination of the Covid lockdowns and the growth of online trading is having an impact on in-store trading, which is the challenge facing us on the months and years ahead. I hope the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment will have the review of company law completed shortly and certainly in advance of the next Dáil session.

On the full impact assessment of CETA, the removal of non-tariff barriers will have benefits because it creates opportunities for Irish companies to gain easier access to the Canadian market and vice versa. Countries are queuing up to have a trading relationship with the European Union.

No one questions a Japan deal, for example. Australia wants to conclude a deal with the European Union because it sees the benefits of having access to such a large market, with good rigour and high standards and the certainty and stability that the European Union market offers to those partners that wish to trade with it. Likewise, in respect of the debate, we have no issue outlining all those assessments and impacts in the context of such a deal.

I find it interesting, however, that the Deputy's, Sinn Féin's and the far left's position is one of antagonism and antipathy towards trade deals more generally. This is something which has gone on for years. Rarely, and I speak as someone who believes in-----

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