Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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276. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the implications here of the recently concluded Canada-European Union Free Trade Agreement. [49239/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The political agreement reached on the key elements of a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada was announced on 18 October 2013 by EU Commission President Barroso and Canadian Prime Minister Harper. There will now be further technical discussions based on this political agreement, which are necessary to finalise the legal text of the agreement.

The CETA covers virtually every aspect of economic activity, and is an extremely important one for Ireland. It is the first comprehensive trade agreement with an historically close trade and economic partner and is a landmark deal between our two transatlantic economies. The CETA will see the elimination of all industrial tariffs and almost all agricultural tariffs. The sensitivities for Ireland in the beef sector are addressed by only partial liberalisation through tariff rate quotas. As to the dairy sector, substantial concessions have been granted by Canada on infant formula, milk protein concentrate and cheese. There is complete liberalisation of tariffs on milk protein concentrate and infant formula plus additional new cheese quotas for the EU in excess of 17,000 tonnes.

The CETA will also widely liberalise trade in services, among others in the areas of financial services, telecommunications, energy and transport. For the first time ever, all Canadian levels of government will open up their public procurement markets above certain thresholds to European suppliers.

The opportunities presented by the Agreement could add over €200 million to Ireland’s current €2.7 billion bilateral trade with Canada, thus creating more jobs and contributing to our economic recovery.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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277. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will report on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the European Union and the United States of America; and his views on the way this agreement may or may not benefit Ireland. [49240/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Negotiations between the EU and the US on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) began formally in July, with the first round of negotiations held in Washington in the week beginning 8^th July 2013. The second round of negotiations concluded in Brussels on the 15^th November. The third round of negotiations is scheduled to take place during week commencing 16^th December in Washington.

The negotiations with the United States are aimed at eliminating tariffs, solving existing regulatory barriers and working to avoid the imposition of regulatory barriers in the future. For example, in a number of years when the Partnership comes into effect I expect that over 90% of tariffs on trade in goods will be removed and Irish companies will have greater access to public sector markets in the U.S.

As most of the potential gains from TTIP will arise from regulatory convergence and mutual recognition of each parties regulatory regimes, companies and especially SMEs will benefit from lower regulatory compliance costs. All of this will provide significant opportunities for Irish businesses to increase their access to the US market, as well as reduce the costs of goods that we need to import.

The EU and the US already have very strong trading and investment ties. The conclusion of a Trade and Investment Agreement with the US would have a significant and positive impact on trade, resulting in new markets for Irish exporters and bringing positive effects on job creation and competitiveness. A comprehensive deal on areas such as common regulatory standards and investment rules holds massive potential for economic growth and jobs which it is estimated could over time boost EU GDP by 0.5% per annum and help create approximately 400,000 jobs in the EU.

The EU Commission is responsible for negotiating on behalf of the EU, and it is doing so on the basis of a wide mandate from the EU Council of Ministers. The EU Commission has set up a specific webpage in order to provide as much information to stakeholders as is possible concerning the negotiations. The webpage can be found at .