Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The Supreme Court judgment about the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, is significant. It puts Ireland at the centre of a debate that is taking place across Europe and in Canada, with many ordinary people mobilising against what is a charter for corporations.

Earlier, the Taoiseach wanted to speak in generalities about free trade being a good thing. He did not address either the substance of the Supreme Court decision or what those of us objecting to CETA are objecting to, namely, the establishment of the investor court system, which would be a parallel system of justice that can only be accessed by corporations taking states to court for either direct or indirect expropriation, which can be - and regularly is - interpreted as anything that interferes with the right of corporations to maximise their profits. Is the Taoiseach aware that there are more than 1,000 cases right now involving Canadian companies suing different states? Does the Taoiseach know that these include European states, contrary to what the Taoiseach said earlier? A mining corporation based in Canada is currently suing Romania and another Canadian company is suing Croatia. Will the Taoiseach agree that CETA should be put to the people in a referendum to decide whether they want the State to sign it?

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