The Vienna Convention.

At the outset, I will briefly return to first principles, because they are not as obvious as some make out, and the reasons behind this legislation. The Arbitration (Amendment) Bill seeks to put Ireland, a country which so greatly benefits from international trade, into a position where we can ratify the range of EU trade and investment agreements that we massively benefit from as an EU member state. It is not the case of international capital taking money from Ireland. If you look at our tax returns, it is the cas…

Dexcom. There are many examples in Galway, but also in all our of constituencies. These did not land on us too frequently before we joined the European Union. Yes, there were examples - there were pioneers who invested in this country and Irish pioneers who invested abroad - but with trade agreements, that is always easier to do now. On the subject of the investment dispute resolution, I have said it time and again that this is a brand new system. This is the investor court system, where many of the concerns raised…

I do not know what the reference to 1916 and a citizens' assembly on O'Connell Street was-----

I am happy to accept the record of the debate here today.

The decision handed down by the Supreme Court in the Costello case identified constitutional concerns that prevented the ratification of CETA, and that is Irish law. We accept what the Supreme Court has said; everybody in this House accepts that. However, we have heard in some of the debate people picking and choosing between the bits they like and do not like. The Government has no option but to take the decision of the court very seriously and to work, as we wanted to and as we committed to in the programme for G…

I am more than happy to. If there were a problem with the right to regulate in the way the Senator has described, although I am saying there is not, I would not be dealing with it here because it would be way too late. You need to deal with it in CETA. The argument I am making is that, on the basis of the very text of CETA, the interpretive statement made and the decisions of the European Court of Justice and, indeed, the Supreme Court, nobody saw an issue with the right to regulate. This is because of the language…

Let us be honest: every time we sign up to an international agreement – the EU is the most famous example of them all – we share a little bit of our sovereignty. That was the issue in our Supreme Court. Why do we share sovereignty? We do so because we all get huge benefits from it. We become part of something bigger and our people benefit. If I agreed with the Senator – I do not, although I respect her arguments – I would absolutely not be doing now what she proposes because it would be too late. We have gone throu…

As previously stated, the Government, with the help of the Attorney General, the legal advisers of the Department and my officials, whom I thank for their work, has carefully considered the Supreme Court's findings in the Costello case. I have said this repeatedly. Those findings encompass specific references to the constitutional order of the State. The Bill sets out the response to the Supreme Court judgment, including the specification of the grounds on which an award is not enforceable. We believe amendment No.…

We have debated these things at length. I am in the Seanad's hands on that. I keep looking back to documents, comments and statements. I looked at a statement issued by the EU and Canada following the fifth meeting of the CETA joint committee. A joint committee was established. To be honest, the Opposition could have written this themselves: ...the Joint Committee adopted the CETA 'Interpretation on Investment', to clarify elements of investment provisions under CETA, notably “fair and equitable treatment”, “indire…

It is standard practice in treaty implementation. It has happened with Mercosur as well.

That is not a scandal. That is not giving extra rights to people that are not in the treaties.

I respect Trócaire and Comhlámh. I still cannot understand why they would seek to insert themselves into this particular debate, which is between the EU and Canada, two of the most prosperous entities in the world. We have acknowledged that there were problems with the old system of ISDS and there problems in the Third World, which those organisations are right to highlight. To parlay that experience into an agreement between two capable actors on the world stage is not correct.

The Senator said it is a new thing, there is too much risk and we do not know how it will work. The same could be said for every new thing. What do we do when we are introducing anything? We draft legislation. We cross the t's and dot the i's. We draft, create and craft the legislation to ensure it suits the needs that the Parliament wants to address. That is exactly what has been done with CETA. I have repeatedly stated here that the right to regulate is not impacted. The Senator quoted from Article 8.39(3), but t…

I do not think I need to clarify this but when I spoke about it being too late I meant that if I agreed with the Opposition it would be too late to do what it wants to do. We would have done that earlier. I did not mean it was too late in the context of this legislation. Amendment No. 13 proposes to delete the order-making powers, as drafted, and introducing a new onerous system for making orders, including replacing the negative resolution requirements with a positive resolution requirement. Senators have raised q…

That is what I have to do. I cannot make things up. I have to read what is written down and what we are voting on.

I have been criticised for reading from text but our laws are text. I have to read from text to make my points. I cannot make things up. I have to read what is written down in black and white. I am speaking on behalf of the Government.

The text is highly relevant because I am quoting from documentation and from what we are voting on. I cannot just come in here and not read from text. We have to be very precise about what we are voting on. I am sorry that the Seanad does not have a vote on agreements that involve a charge on the State. That is the way the Constitution is written - for good reason actually because the Dáil holds the purse strings. That is just the way it is but the Seanad has a role because it has the power of annulment. There is a…

I can only comment on the amendment at hand. The amendment speaks about the avoidance of doubt but does not appear to reflect the current legal position in the Bill or in current law. The proposed amendment appears to be an attempt to circumvent the withdrawal provisions and any applicable sunset clauses included in a relevant international agreement through domestic law. The Bill has been drafted to ensure compliance with the Constitution and the international obligations Ireland would assume upon ratification of …

I know the way these things work. The Labour Party had a trade Ministry for a period of that Government, and trade Ministers would have been regularly informed by the Commission negotiators as to how the negotiations were going. This happens all the time in relation to trade agreements.