Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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257. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the details of discussions she has had with the Minister for Social Protection regarding the potential impact of international trade agreements such as CETA on the social protection system here, particularly in view of the fact that the only social protection-related issues included on the negative list in the CETA text refers to services relating to convalescent and rest houses and old people's homes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26194/17]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Ireland is an open trading economy.  Under successive governments Ireland has continued to promote a policy for open international trade and competition.  This has greatly benefitted our economy.  My Department consults relevant Government Departments at every stage of a negotiation of a free trade agreement.  My Department consulted the Department of Health in relation to privately funded convalescent and rest houses and old people’s homes as the Department of Health has primary responsibility in this area.

The EU – Canada Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) commits Canada, the EU and it’s Member States to permit access to each other’s domestic services market (the Market Access Commitment) and to treat foreign services suppliers no less favourably than their own service suppliers (the National Treatment Commitment).

There are exceptions to the general commitments to liberalisation of the services market.  These are listed in Annex I (Reservations for existing measures and liberalisation commitments) and Annex II (Reservations for future measures) to the Agreement.  There are EU specific exceptions that cover all of the Member States and Ireland is also covered by its own specific exceptions.

Annex II lists all the existing measures and restrictions that the EU and Ireland want to maintain in relation to Canadian service providers.  These include measures regarding public services, public monopolies and public utilities such as health, education, water supply and social services at all levels of government.  In addition, the EU and Ireland reserve the right to adopt new or different and even more restrictive measures in the future.

In Annex II, Ireland also reserves the right to adopt any measure with respect to the supply of privately funded social services other than services relating to convalescent and rest houses and old people’s homes.  This exception was included as it is important to support and encourage investment in relation to convalescent and rest houses and old people’s homes given the pressures Ireland faces with an increasingly aging population.

I would also point out that Ireland can continue regulating any liberalised services sector but it will have to do so without imposing quotas or discriminating, so rules should apply in the same way to domestic and foreign service suppliers alike.