Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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648. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the date on which the European Commission will present a proposal to the Council of Ministers asking the Council to vote to give the Commission the authority to sign off on the final text of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, with the Canadian Government that is to adopt a decision concluding the agreement as per TFEU Article 218.6; when the Government will get access to this proposal to conclude CETA; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19571/16]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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649. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she will make public the Commission’s Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, proposal prior to the Council’s vote on it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19572/16]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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650. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she will make public the Government's position as to provisionally applying the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19573/16]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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651. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if her attention has been drawn to the fact that Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution places a constitutional imperative on the State to have any international agreement involving a charge upon public funds approved by Dáil Éireann and that as such, should the Council of Ministers vote by a qualified majority vote to approve the signing and provisional application of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, considering the investor state dispute settlement, ISDS, mechanism of CETA is designed specifically to allow for a charge upon public funds, this would create a constitutional crisis for Ireland and the EU, whereby Ireland, as an EU member state, could be the subject of ISDS cases which lead to a charge upon public funds prior to Dáil Éireann approving the CETA; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19574/16]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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652. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the way the Government can claim that CETA and its investor state dispute settlement, ISDS, will not be enforced upon Ireland prior to the CETA being approved by Dáil Éireann (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19575/16]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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653. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the necessity test (details supplied) being used to inform the Government's thinking on the provisional application of CETA; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19576/16]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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654. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the way the Government can explain its position that the ISDS of CETA is compatible with EU law (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19577/16]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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655. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the Government will explain its position that the ISDS of CETA is compatible with EU law; the reason the Government does not invoke Article 218.11 of the TFEU and ask the ECJ to deliver a legal ruling as to whether or not ISDS is compatible with EU law (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19578/16]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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656. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the way on the one hand intra-EU bilateral investment treaties with investor-state dispute settlement, ISDS, promote discrimination based on nationality, but somehow, in a post Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement legal landscape, allowing Canadian businesses or EU-businesses with a Canadian owner, to have privileged access to a legal remedy, namely ISDS, does not allow for discrimination based on nationality (details supplied). [19579/16]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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657. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the reason for the Government's support for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and its investor-state dispute settlement (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19580/16]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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658. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the way the Government intends to protect Irish citizens from the European Union Commission’s proposal to provisionally apply the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, prior to a definitive legal ruling as to the distribution of competences relating to new proposals to subject the EU to an investor-state dispute settlement under the CETA; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19581/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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665. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the date on which the European Commission will present a proposal to the Council of Ministers asking the Council to vote to give the Commission the authority to sign-off on the final text of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the Canadian government (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19595/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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666. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation when the Government gets access to the wording of the proposal to conclude the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement; if she will make public the Commission’s proposal prior to the Council of Ministers' vote on the agreement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19596/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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667. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she will publish the position as to provisionally applying the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19597/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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668. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she is aware that Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution places an imperative on the State to have any international agreement involving a charge upon public funds to be approved by Dáil Éireann and that as such, should the Council of Ministers vote by a qualified majority vote to approve the signing and provisional application of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, and considering the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism of the agreement is designed specifically to allow for a charge upon public funds, this would be in breach of the Constitution, whereby Ireland could be the subject of settlement cases which lead to a charge upon public funds prior to Dáil Éireann approving the agreement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19598/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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669. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation how she can assert that the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the investor state dispute settlement will not be enforced upon Ireland prior to Dáil Éirean approving the agreement (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19599/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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670. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the necessity test being used to inform the Government position on the provisional application of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19600/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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671. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she will explain her position that the investor state dispute settlement of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement is compatible with European Union law; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19601/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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672. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she will explain her position that the investor state dispute settlement of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement is compatible with European Union law; and why she does not invoke Article 218.11 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and ask the European Court of Justice to deliver a legal ruling as to whether or not the settlement is compatible with European Union law; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19602/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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673. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation how intra-European Union bilateral investment treaty solutions with the investor-state dispute settlement promote discrimination based on nationality, but in a post-Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement legal landscape allowing Canadian businesses or European Union-businesses with a Canadian owner to have privileged access to a legal remedy, namely the settlement, somehow does not allow for discrimination based on nationality; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19603/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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674. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation how she intends to protect Irish citizens from the EU Commission’s proposal to provisionally apply the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement prior to a definitive legal ruling as to the distribution of competences relating to new proposals to subject the European Union to an investor state dispute settlement under the agreement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19604/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 648 to 658, inclusive, and 665 to 674, inclusive, together.

The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) is a new generation agreement that will remove over 99% of tariffs between the EU and Canada and will create sizeable new market access opportunities in services and investment. It will end limitations in access to public contracts, open-up services market, and offer predictable conditions for investors.

The EU-Canada Agreement will save on duty costs as 99.6% of all industrial tariffs will be eliminated on entry into force. Irish firms will also benefit from the recognition of product standards and certification, thus saving on ‘double testing’ on both sides of the Atlantic. These are some of the benefits of the trade deal with Canada as well as providing new market opportunities in many sectors for Irish firms.

In May this year, the Council had an exchange of views on the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the process towards signature and provisional application of the agreement. The European Commission and Member States highlighted the high quality of the agreement reached with Canada and expressed the desire to work towards signature of the agreement at the October EU-Canada Summit. The Commission advised the Council of its intention to submit a proposal for a decision on signature of CETA before the Summer. I understand that the Commission will adopt their proposal this week. It is a matter for the EU Commission to decide if they wish to publish their proposal.

There are differing views on the legal position on competence and the CETA. The European Commission is of the view that CETA falls within the competence of the EU only. We will need to wait and see the formal proposal from the Commission and, importantly, the legal basis for this. It will be a matter for the Council and the European Parliament to decide on the signature and provisional application of CETA.

The provisions of the CETA on investment dispute resolution relate solely to the CETA as an international trade agreement. Such trade agreements are not part of domestic law. This is why separate adjudication arrangements are required in the event of disputes under the agreement.