Govt attempting to 'railroad ratification of CETA' - Soc Dems
The Social Democrats have accused the government of trying to railroad the ratification of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Harris yesterday (Sunday, November 16) confirmed he had received Cabinet approval for the Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025, which will enable the ratification of the CETA agreement.
Once enacted, the bill will allow the State to progress plans to ratify CETA and other international agreements.
"This is a priority for the government, not least against the background of today’s volatile international trading environment," Harris said.
The bill will now move on to the next legislative steps, including debates in the Oireachtas.
CETA
However, Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson described the government's attempt to ratify the agreement without pre-legislative scrutiny as "a deeply cynical move".
"Previous attempts by Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael-led governments to ram through CETA were stopped in their tracks by political opposition and a successful legal challenge in the Supreme Court in 2022, which found elements of the agreement to be unconstitutional.
"Having done nothing for three years, the government is now trying to use the cover of tariff wars to claim that ratification of CETA is urgent.
"However, this argument does not stand up to scrutiny as the trade aspect of this deal has been in force since 2017," she said.
Bill
Senator Stephenson said that what remains to be ratified is the establishment of a highly controversial Investor Court System (ICS).
She claimed this will "allow large corporations to leapfrog domestic and EU courts and take cases against governments to tribunals when policy decisions impact their bottom line".
"Despite government claims that its bill contains safeguards to address concerns identified in the Supreme Court judgements, the language is unclear and has been difficult to verify in the absence of pre-legislative scrutiny.
"I remain strenuously opposed to the establishment of an Investor Court System, which could have serious financial consequences for Ireland and have a chilling effect on public policy.
"The government’s latest attempt to railroad the ratification of CETA through the Oireachtas should be seen for the deeply cynical move that it is," she said.
