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

We are not rushing through CETA. It has been in provisional operation for three years, since the Commission signed it, and it has been of considerable benefit to quite a number of Irish companies that export goods and services to Canada, which underpins jobs in Ireland. That dimension of the debate should be articulated a bit more publicly because it is getting no airing. As a country, we are an open indigenous economy that exports most of what we produce in both goods and services.

The investment court issue would not have stopped the smoking ban. It has been categorically established in the European Court of Justice that any public health initiative cannot be thwarted by such mechanisms in CETA. Climate agenda policies or any other public policy measures that a Government may wish to introduce cannot in any way be undermined by the provisions in CETA. That said, I have no issue with all aspects of this issue being aired in the House. I get the sense there is a glaring omission in the public debate around the importance to small and medium sized Irish companies which depend on exports to create jobs and an enterprise economy in this country. The debate on CETA seems very one-sided.

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