Ireland 'way behind' other countries due to CETA delays, warns Leo Varadkar

The trade deal has been referred to the joint Oireachtas committee on European Affairs for further scrutiny in an attempt to avoid further rifts in the Green Party after members indicated they would vote against it.

Leo Varadkar said that delaying ratification would send a message of a "waning commitment to free trade".

Ireland cannot wait to ratify the controversial CETA trade deal, the Tánaiste says.

The deal has been referred to the joint Oireachtas committee on European Affairs for further scrutiny in an attempt to avoid further rifts in the Green Party after members indicated they would vote against it.

A Dáil vote on the deal was postponed before Christmas as Green Party leader Eamon Ryan faced opposition from within his own ranks, despite assurances being given to Taoiseach Micheál Martin that he would be able to carry it.

Speaking at the committee today, Leo Varadkar said that while he welcomes the added scrutiny, ratifying the deal is government policy and he did not want "to see ratification drifting indefinitely". 

He said that delaying ratification would send a message of a "waning commitment to free trade". He said that he did not believe that Ireland could ask for further scrutiny of the deal from the EU and Canada, which he said would be "like rejecting the Nice Treaty twice".

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"Nobody owes us a basic income. Our wealth as a country is based on free trade."

He said that Ireland's worldwide trading economic model would be "key to our recovery" from Covid-19.

Mr Varadkar defended the investor court system, which has caused much of the opposition to CETA. He said the system was "not forced up Europe" and would protect Irish traders. He said Canadian firms could sue the Irish government - a key concern about the investor courts - whether CETA exists or not.

"CETA simply provides an arbitration alternative to the courts," he said, adding that Ireland does not fear the system as it "does not plan to treat Canadian firms unfairly". 

He told independent senator Alice Mary Higgins that companies hoping to sue governments under CETA "had a very high bar to clear". Ms Higgins said that she found it surprising that there has not been a risk analysis on the impact of CETA on the national finances.

Mr Varadkar said that Ireland was a "slow adopter" of the deal and was "way behind" other countries.

Sinn Féin senator Lynn Boylan said that the investor court system's costs would be "quite substantial". She said that France, Germany, Netherlands and Italy among others had not finished ratifying the treaty, so it was not the case that Ireland was "a laggard". 

Mr Varadkar said that he did not believe that Ireland should "wait to be last" to adopt CETA.