John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

A delegation from the foreign affairs and trade committee is going to Canada in early December. I welcome the new ambassador. Deputy McGreehan is convener of the Canada-Ireland Inter-Parliamentary Friendship group, and hence her particular interest in it. There is some resistance to waiving pre-legislative scrutiny on the CETA agreement from some quarters in the House. There is a little bit of romantic notion about where Ireland is in the world in some quarters and maybe there needs to be a more realistic appreciation of where Ireland needs to be. Prime Minister Carney from his time as Governor of the Bank of England seems to have huge understanding and is well informed about this country.

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