Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 17, inclusive, together.

Ireland enjoys a deep and strong relationship with Canada, a country with which we share many values. Increasingly, that relationship has an economic focus.

In recent times, we have expanded our presence in Canada with consulates opened in Vancouver and Toronto in addition to our embassy in Ottawa. We also have a strong agency presence in Canada, including the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Tourism Ireland. Ireland and Canada also have a collaborative relationship on many global issues, including working towards a peaceful resolution and a massive humanitarian response to the war in Gaza, and in supporting Ukraine.

I wrote to Prime Minister Carney to offer my congratulations on his election victory and said that I looked forward to co-operating with him and with his new Government in the period ahead. Like many Canadians, Prime Minister Carney has strong Irish heritage with family connections to Mayo and he has spoken of how important that heritage is to him. I am confident that our bilateral relations will continue to go from strength to strength throughout his tenure. I have not yet had the opportunity to meet the prime minister in person since he took up his new role but I look forward to doing so at the earliest possible opportunity.

I welcome the recent EU-Canada summit attended by Prime Minister Carney. It was a useful opportunity to reaffirm and strengthen the EU-Canada strategic partnership following political changes in Canada and the EU. The Canada-EU relationship, like the bilateral relationship between Canada and Ireland, is based on shared values, a long history of close co-operation and strong people-to-people ties. The summit’s theme of Enduring Partnership, Ambitious Agenda reflects the importance of the Canada-EU relationship at this juncture and Ireland welcomes the ambition of the joint statement for a new and comprehensive partnership across a range of thematic areas.

Furthermore, the Government is committed to ratifying the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, between the EU and Canada. This is clearly set out in our programme for Government. Since the agreement was provisionally applied in 2017, we have seen a significant increase in trade between our countries. Goods exports to Canada increased from €936 million in 2016 to more than €4.1 billion in 2024. Services exports grew from €1.44 billion in 2016 to more than €3.6 billion in 2023. Ratifying CETA is firmly in the interests of workers, taxpayers and businesses in rural and urban Ireland and I find it extraordinary that so many in this House have opposed its ratification to date. The global economy is changing in ways that are making trade with like-minded, stable and reliable partners like Canada more important than ever before. I look forward to further deepening relations with Canada in the period ahead.

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