Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

The Tánaiste has indicated that we will have some element of clarification by the end of quarter 2 as to what the agreement looks like but we still do not have clarity as to how agreement is to be determined. The Tánaiste is promising the State will be resolute in the sense of what we understand this agreement to be. Mercosur is utterly unacceptable and I cannot see how there will be any movement in that respect. I assume, on the basis of what the Tánaiste said, that the European Commission has not offered, by way of this clarification, that there can be real wins from our point of view. Beyond that, it is a case of maintaining a relationship with those member states that have similar positions and ensuring we look after Irish farming and opposing any agreement that would be detrimental to it. At this point, we have a promise from the Tánaiste and the Government in that regard.

The Tánaiste made reference to CETA. Most of the parts of that trade agreement are in operation. Our big fear is the investor court system and the chilling impact it has had across the board.

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