Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. He is right. We are in a phase now when it comes to trade policy and our economy where we have got to keep influencing what we can influence, including the United States and the EU but we also have to control what we can control. As to what we can control, we can help companies diversify and help open up new markets throughout the world to Irish companies. This country is proudly a free trade country. We have always been a nation of traders and there are big opportunities in Singapore, Vietnam, Canada and, potentially, India. I had a good meeting with the Indian foreign minister in Dublin a couple of weeks ago.

The Deputy is right to reference CETA, which we endeavoured to progress in the previous Oireachtas. We know the difficulties we got into on that occasion. I have been working with the Attorney General and with my officials to find a way forward and I am pleased to tell the House that I intend to bring a memo to Government in the coming weeks - hopefully this month - that will set out a legislative path that will allow this country to ratify CETA by the end of this year.

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