Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-28
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Thomas Byrne (FF), Meath East

On those points, we go back time and again to the quotation from Ms Justice Dunne, namely that it is inconceivable that there would be a case under CETA that would not also be a case under Irish law. That is the practical reality. The cases that might arise uniquely because of the circumstances that Senator McDowell has outlined are highly unlikely because of the way we operate our system. He favours the judgment of Mr. Justice Charleton. It is not possible for the Government to say it prefers to dissent in a case. We have to look at what the law of the land is. The Supreme Court established that ratifying the CETA agreement would be unconstitutional and stated this legislation was potentially a way to make its ratification constitutional. We have taken that option, as suggested by the Supreme Court, because it is strongly our policy view that we wish to ratify this agreement. If any state party does not ratify the agreement, the whole thing collapses. That is established. Our view is that this Bill has been drafted to ensure compliance with both the Constitution and the international obligations, including EU law, which Ireland assumes.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-28