Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As I have previously outlined, ratifying CETA is Government policy and an objective of mine as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Ireland has benefitted immensely from our export-oriented enterprises trading across the globe. As a small open economy, we support international trade and the EU free trade agreements that seek to underpin this. In that context, I believe that ratifying the agreement would send a positive message to our trading partners around the world that Ireland continues to be committed to the values of open and fair global trade.

The Agreement has provisionally applied since 21st September 2017, meaning a great many of the benefits are already in place. Since provisional application, duties on 98% of products that the EU trades with Canada have been removed and goods exports to Canada have increased from €953 million in 2016 to more than €1.3 billion in 2021, an increase of 36%, while services exports grew from €1.6 billion in 2016 to more than €2.2 billion in 2020, an increase of 38 per cent. These figures demonstrate the positive impact of CETA.

At the Joint Oireachtas Committee last year, I highlighted the benefits of CETA. I also said that, while I welcome the scrutiny at Committee, I do not want ratification delayed and drifting indefinitely, and for Ireland to have to stand by and watch other EU member states ratify it ahead of us, as the majority have. That would send out the wrong message to the world.

The ratification process for CETA has also been subject to legal challenges. In March last year, Deputy Patrick Costello commenced High Court proceedings on the basis of his view that CETA requires a referendum in order to be ratified in Ireland. The Government very much welcomed the Judgement in those High Court proceedings that issued last September, which rejected Deputy Costello’s challenge to the Government’s proposed ratification of CETA.

Deputy Costello has subsequently appealed the High Court’s decision to the Supreme Court and judgement is currently awaited. Separately, Senator Lynn Boylan has initiated a High Court action on ratification but a hearing date has not yet been set in this matter.

It remains the position that Government will consider the next steps in Ireland’s ratification process once the Supreme Court has delivered its judgement.