Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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21. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the reason the State, in October 2014, communicated to the European Commission its support for the inclusion of an investor state dispute settlement mechanism in the transatlantic trade and investment partnership negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12087/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Ireland was one of 14 EU member states that co-signed a letter addressed to the EU Commissioner for Trade, Cecelia Malmström, concerning the public consultation on investment protection in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that the EU Commission had undertaken earlier in 2014. In the letter, it was pointed out that the consultation was an important step, that the outcome of the consultation should run its course and that the views expressed by stakeholders should be carefully considered before reaching firm decisions on the way forward.

The EU Commission published its report on the results of the on 13 January, 2015. The report, along with explanatory material, can be found at

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Commissioner Malmström has indicated that work is underway on developing specific proposals for the TTIP negotiations in the areas it identified in the report, namely, the protection of the right to regulate, the establishment and functioning of arbitral tribunals, the relationship between domestic judicial systems and Investor to State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), and the review of ISDS decisions for legal correctness through an appellate mechanism.

In line with Article 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the position to be taken by the EU on issues in the TTIP negotiations is the subject of consultation with the EU Council. Like other Member States, Ireland could only support an ISDS mechanism that is fair, transparent and efficient. Ultimately, the TTIP negotiations, once they are concluded, must be ratified by each member state. This means that Ireland will be part of the final decision to ratify the agreement.