Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is also good news to be added to this.

I was very pleased to hear Senator Nash confirm his confidence that the Minister would defend workers' rights, trade union laws and domestic protection of workers and their negotiating position and standards, and his confidence in the Minister's anxiety to defend these areas. I was impressed by that fact. It is very non-partisan of the Senator to say that but it is also very true. I believe we have robust worker protection in this country, and rightly so. Those rights were hard-won and include the right to strike, to free assembly, to union membership, to the minimum wage, to regulation of hours and to health and safety laws. These protections are correct and need to be built on, advanced and enhanced. If we have a civilised society, the rights of our workers have to be a core value. However, I believe those rights are sufficiently robust and sufficiently indigenous and ingrained, and I do not see this agreement prejudicing that in any way. I am happy on that score.

The agreement was launched in May 2009 and political agreement was reached between the EU and Canada on 18 October 2013. The negotiations concluded and were formally welcomed by the joint statement of the EU-Canada summit on 26 September 2014. The summit schedule for 27 October 2016 is to achieve the signing of CETA. I believe that will be a very good development for this country and for Europe, in particular for mutual trading opportunities. There is a market of 500 million in the current EU and this will greatly expand the potential market. We are well placed geographically to take advantage of trading opportunities in a European context.

On 14 September the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, along with 11 other Ministers from the member states, wrote to Commissioner Malmström. The letter welcomed the conclusion of negotiations and the signing of CETA on 27 October and subsequent provisional application of the agreement. The agreement was discussed at the informal Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministers meeting in Bratislava on 23 September 2016. Member states highlighted the high quality of the agreement reached with Canada and reaffirmed their desire to work towards signature of the agreement at the EU-Canada summit envisaged to take place in Brussels on 27 October 2016. A further extraordinary meeting of the Trade Council is likely to take place on 18 October in Luxembourg in order to make a decision on CETA. The agreement will be made available for signing by member states.

Given the position taken by Ireland and other member states, the European Commission will submit CETA to the Council for decision as a mixed agreement. This means the agreement contains provisions that fall under both EU and member state responsibility. It will be a matter for the Council and the European Parliament to decide on the signature and provisional application of CETA. Following a decision by the Council, with the consent of the Parliament, it will be possible to provisionally apply CETA. The Dáil will have a role in that its full entry into force will be subject to the conclusion by the EU through a Council decision with the consent of the Parliament, and by all member states through the relevant national ratification procedures. This means the Dáil will be part of the final decision to ratify the agreement. In that sense, it will be truly democratic.

CETA is a new and exciting opportunity for our exporters and indigenous businesses, for trade and for all aspects of Irish exports. It is an expanded market which, as an open economy, we need. It is also something of an antidote to the depressing talk around Brexit. I believe our robust worker protection and the place of workers' rights in domestic law and established practice will hold, and will be defended by every citizen and by our Parliament. It is a good day's work. I am personally completely in favour of the agreement and personally delighted when there is an opportunity to enhance the living conditions of our people through any trading agreement.