Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-06
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Malcolm Noonan (GP), Agricultural Panel

The Cross-Party Group is not opposed to trade. We believe in and know what free trade has done for Ireland from the Lemass era right to the present day. It has to be as much about fair trade as it is about free trade, however. In a small open economy like Ireland's, this geopolitical reality that we are facing today is particularly alarming. We are opposed to this Bill and the measures in it, and the challenges it is going to present in terms of society, workers' rights and the environment. As has been said, it is not just about the agreement specified in the Bill, namely CETA and the EU-Chile agreement. It could be any Bill that a future Minister decides to include in it. What would happen if Ireland, probably on a road to Damascus moment, decided to ratify the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, or a rights to nature Bill that could be brought forward and which has been proposed? Would we be taken to investor courts by Exxon, BP or Shell? Trade can be used as a force for good in upholding the rule of law, climate and nature objectives, workers' rights and the rights of indigenous peoples. This arbitration Bill is not going to do that. As has been said, Ireland is not obliged to ratify CETA under the ISDS or ICS clauses in the EU trade agreements. This has been made clear by the EU Court of Justice and our own Supreme Court in the Costello case. Our Cross-Party Group remains resolutely opposed to this legislation.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-06/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-06