James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Senator referred to hormones, as the record will show.

The agreement will be highly beneficial to Ireland, a country that has emerged from a serious economic meltdown. We are in a much improved position, with unemployment down from 15.1% to 7.9%. In Fingal, unemployment has declined by 32.25% or almost one third since 2012. These facts are often attributed to emigration but that it is not the case. With more than 2 million people working, the reduction in unemployment is real. Moreover, emigrants are starting to return home, which is a very welcome development.

One area of particular concern to me, as a person who is committed to a tobacco-free Ireland, would have been any possibility that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, or the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, would be used to circumvent our legislative process and public health policy on tobacco and plain packaging as well as the various other constraints Ireland has placed on tobacco use to protect our children from ever taking up this killer habit. The preamble text to CETA has this to say on public health: "Recognizing that the provisions of this Agreement preserve the right to regulate within their territories and resolving to preserve their flexibility to achieve legitimate policy objectives, such as public health, safety, environment, public morals and the promotion and protection of cultural diversity;".