It is incredibly disappointing to see this legislation brought to Second Stage with the Government having refused to allow the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade to conduct pre-legislative scrutiny. It is the unfortunate result of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael ingratiating themselves with each other producing the worst of outcomes. What we have here is Fianna Fáil adopting Fine Gael foreign and trade policy wholesale and both parties adopting Bertie-era Fianna Fáil tactics to ride roughshod through these Houses. Independent lackeys pretending to be in government and opposition at the same time - check. Funny business with the Seanad doors when votes are called – check. I am not sure a senior Minister has bothered to turn up for a Topical Issue debate in months unless specially requested. That is in breach of Standing Orders. Nowhere is it more apparent than when it comes to trade that gone are the faux collegial deals of how the Dáil began to work in the post-crash years. There will not be pre-legislative scrutiny if the Government cannot be bothered or if it is just worried that scrutiny will shine a light on the impact of the poor decisions it has made. This Bill seeks to enable the worst aspects of CETA. It will open up Ireland to the corporate court systems not available to ordinary Irish citizens. These courts will allow big businesses to sue Ireland for what they call a loss of profit. What could this mean? The answer is vulture funds suing Ireland for addressing the housing crisis, fossil fuel companies suing Ireland in opposition to climate action and the taxpayer picking up the tab. There is no cause or reason for any Irish Government to support this Bill. For years, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael told us we could not pass the occupied territories Bill because Europe would sue us. After this, they will be telling us we cannot implement renter protections, improve workers’ rights or take climate action for fear of being sued. How the Government has gone about this is yet another example of poor parliamentary practice on its part. Having attempted to ride roughshod over the Constitution, as evidenced by the Supreme Court decision striking down the Government’s previous attempts to ratify this agreement, it now attempts to circumvent through legislation the ruling of the Supreme Court that a referendum would be required. However, not content with attempts to circumvent the Constitution, the Government will not even allow what has become a standing part of the legislative process to take place. The Constitution, the Supreme Court or the procedure of the Oireachtas – the Government arrogantly cannot abide by those or accept they have a role to play. People expect the Government to represent their interests and views at European level but Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael seem to roll over to the whims of the European Commission each and every time, and especially when it comes to trade. The Mercosur trade agreement could flood the European market with upwards of 100,000 tonnes of South American beef and nearly twice that quantity of poultry, which would have a significant impact on my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan. Despite years of talking out of both sides of their mouths on this deal, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have net zero to show in terms of meaningfully enforceable legal guarantees. Speaking of net zero, we will not be hitting that if the Government continues to facilitate the deforestation of the Amazon while being incapable of facilitating reforestation at home. Its response to Irish media exposure of the Irish beef production system being potentially awash with antibiotics posing a potential threat to public health is a net zero. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have form for throwing our farming families under the bus to appease Europe. Is it any wonder they are comfortable at this time to do this to the Constitution, the courts, these Houses and every citizen? Shame on each and every TD who supports this Bill.

Sentiment score: 0.01