Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are five year olds on all sides of the House tonight anyway.

To pick up on a point made by Senator Richmond about the people in Europe who should be fighting the battle on behalf of CETA and be batting on its behalf, maybe they do not have the confidence in it to do so. Maybe if they were so confident in it, they would be batting on behalf of CETA. We in Sinn Féin have had serious concerns about this agreement from day 1 and have been very vocal on it. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion and I am delighted that the Sinn Féin Seanadóirí have all signed up to support it.

I raise the fact that the negotiation process for CETA, as has been said, and TTIP has been marked by secrecy and a lack of transparency. My colleague, Matt Carthy, MEP, had to fight tooth and nail to gain access to documentation relating to the negotiations. When he finally achieved this, he had to view the documents in a secure reading room in Brussels. It is ironic that the likes of Brian Hayes, MEP, extol the virtues of free trade and openness in respect of TTIP yet refuse to afford the same freedom of information when it comes to the agreement itself. There is also a democratic deficit in Ireland in this regard. By all accounts, the Dáil will not get an opportunity to debate or vote on any agreement. Given that the Oireachtas has no mandate in this regard, it is highly worrying that the Minister, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, wrote to Commissioner Malmström to urge the European Commission to press on with CETA and TTIP. On whose behalf did she write? Many councils and local authorities have also passed motions vowing not to adhere to or be bound by the agreements.