I am pleased to speak in support of the Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025. I thank the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and her officials for bring it forward. It has long been debated in this House. This Bill is a direct and careful response to the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Costello case, which held that, legislative change would be necessary before the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement could be fully ratified. The core issue identified by the court was the automatic enforcement in Ireland of awards of a CETA investment tribunal. The Bill before us deals exactly with that point. It inserts a new section 25A into the Arbitration Act 2010 to create a bespoke, tightly framed regime for enforcing awards under EU agreements that contain modern investment protection provisions, including CETA and the EU–Chile agreement. Crucially, those awards will only be enforceable under this new section and only where doing so does not compromise the constitutional order of the State or the autonomy of the EU legal order. That is a significant constitutional safeguard. The Bill also provides for a leap-frog appeal so that any serious constitutional issue can go directly from the High Court to the Supreme Court, if the court so permits. It allows further EU investment agreements, such as those with Vietnam, Singapore and Mexico, to be added by ministerial order, while still operating within the clear limits set by the Supreme Court. In other words, this Bill does not give away sovereignty; it copper-fastens it and it also gives us a lawful, transparent way to meet our international obligations. Why does this matter? It matters because CETA is not an abstract legal exercise. It is the backbone of an almost free-trade area between the EU and Canada, linking close to half a billion people in a high-standard, rules-based market. Since 2017, about 95% of CETA has been provisionally applied. That has meant the near elimination of tariffs on goods, real opening of services and procurement markets, and practical, predictable rules for trade. If Ireland cannot ratify CETA, we would put that provisional application at risk, with the very real possibility of tariffs being reimposed and market access rolled back. The gains for Ireland from this agreement are not theoretical. They are already visible in our trade statistics and in jobs on the ground. Ireland’s bilateral trade in goods and services with Canada has grown from about €3.2 billion in 2016, before CETA, to more than €10 billion in 2023. Goods exported to Canada have risen from roughly €900 million in 2016 to €4.1 billion in 2024, a more than a fourfold increase. Goods imported have more than doubled from almost €0.5 billion to €1.2 billion. Services tell a similar story. Exports are up from €1.5 billion to over €3.7 billion while imports from €300 million to more than €1.7 billion. For a small, open economy, that is a textbook definition of success. Independent evaluation at EU level shows that Ireland is a standout winner from CETA, near the top of the league table in welfare gains. That is not surprising. The sectors where CETA delivers most - pharmaceuticals, medical devices, high-value manufacturing, business and ICT services - are exactly those in which Ireland, and Dublin in particular, are strongest. We are not passive spectators; we have built a competitive, export-orientated economy and this agreement plays to our strengths. We can see that clearly in Dublin, and in the area the Minister of State and I represent, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. Canadian-backed financial services, insurance and asset management firms employ substantial numbers of people in Sandyford and across the wider Dublin area. Canadian investment underpins activity in our aircraft leasing cluster, including, in my constituency, at the West Pier. Dublin-based tech and high-tech firms have used Canada as a springboard market, scaling up employment here on the back of access there. These are not some abstract globalisation stories. They are real jobs, real mortgages and real tax revenues in communities up and down this country. It is worth underlining, for the benefit of some of the commentary outside this House, that CETA is exactly the type of trade agreement Ireland should be championing. It expands markets for our goods and services. It respects and protects our rights to regulate. It contains practical safeguards for agriculture and recognises the sensitivities of that sector. It binds all of this into a legal framework with strong provisions on labour rights, environmental standards and sustainable development. Equally, Canada is exactly the kind of country we want to deepen trade with. It is a mature democracy and strong rule-of-law state, with robust labour protections and high environmental standards. This is not a race to the bottom deal. It is a partnership between like-minded societies that share a belief in fair trade, high standards and multilateralism at a time when all three are under pressure. Against that backdrop, I have to say that the position of some in the Opposition is profoundly disappointing, though not remotely surprising. Only last month, we had a Sinn Féin MEP proclaim that Sinn Féin is determined to fight every step of the ratification process. That kind of language might sound energetic on social media, but it sits uneasily beside the facts that exports are up fourfold, services exports are up by more than 250%, there is over €10 billion in two-way trade, and thousands of high-quality jobs are supported here at home. To look at that record and see a threat rather than an opportunity is to reveal an anti-enterprise mindset that has never really come to terms with Ireland's modern economic model. Of course, it is not a new stance. Sinn Féin is the party that has spent the past 50 years championing anti-enterprise policies, while also opposing virtually every major EU treaty. It opposed joining the EEC in the first place, opposed the Single European Act and the Maastricht, Nice and Lisbon treaties. Each time, we were told disaster was around the corner. Each time, the Irish people chose a different course. Our country has thrived by being open, outward-looking and engaged. CETA sits in that same tradition of rules-based trade with a trusted partner in Ireland's long-term interest. It is important to address the concern that this Bill somehow resurrects the worst aspects of old-style investor state dispute settlement; it does not. The investment court system under CETA is a clear break from ad hoc, opaque investor–state dispute settlement, ISDS. It is a standing two-tier tribunal, with independent adjudicators appointed jointly by the EU and Canada, operating under strict ethical rules, with transparent procedures, published decisions and provision for third-party participation. Awards cannot be enforced here if they cut across our constitutional order or the autonomy of EU law. That is a very high bar and an important reassurance. In a world of Brexit, trade wars, sanctions and the weaponisation of economic interdependence, for a small country rules really matter. Being part of a free-trade area with Canada of nearly 500 million people, one that is grounded in law and mutual respect, strengthens Ireland's resilience. This Bill gives us the legal tools we need to ratify CETA and similar arrangements in a way that is fully consistent with constitutional and EU law. For all of these reasons, constitutional, economic and strategic, I support this Bill. It will allow Ireland to move from provisional application to full ratification, to deepen our ties with Canada, and to signal, once again, that we are a small country that understands one big lesson, namely, that in challenging times, it is open, rules-based co-operation with trusted partners that keeps our people in work and our economy secure.

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