Today, we are asked to pass a Bill that does not serve the Irish people. It serves international investor courts. Independent Ireland believes our sovereignty is not something to be traded away through technical legislative fixes. This is not just an amendment to the Arbitration Act. It is a step towards giving foreign tribunals cursory judicial influence over Irish policy because Brussels or multinational investors would prefer it. That is unacceptable. We have seen this pattern before. Deals like Mercosur were sold as opportunities but in reality, they pose direct threats to Irish farmers and rural communities. As I said earlier in this Chamber, Mercosur will flood our markets with contaminated beef produced under standards far below ours, undermining Irish farmers who are already struggling with falling incomes and rising costs. This Bill is part of the same architecture, the same world view that prioritises international trade deals over the interests of rural Ireland and the people of Ireland. Our farmers are the backbone of this country, yet investor court systems have been used abroad to challenge environmental rules, food safety measures and agricultural supports. If we pass this Bill, we open the door to those same challenges here. Rural Ireland cannot be left exposed to corporate lawsuits that put profit before people. Let us be clear, in that this legislation creates a two-tier justice system. Powerful, foreign corporations will enjoy special tribunals to sue the Irish State while ordinary citizens and small businesses must rely on our domestic courts. This is fundamentally unfair and completely at odds with the principles of a republic built on equality and accountability. We also must talk about democratic consent. Time and again, major EU commitments have been pushed through without consulting the Irish people, be they on migration or neutrality. Independent Ireland has called for open debate and public endorsement. Here we are again, though, deepening Ireland's obligation under the EU-negotiated investment regimes without a single word to the electorate. If the State wants to bind itself to powerful investor courts, the people deserve a voice. One of the most alarming aspects of this Bill is the power it gives to the Minister to extend this enforcement system to future treaties by simple order. That means future trade agreements that could impose new liabilities on taxpayers or restrict our regulatory freedom could be approved quietly without proper parliamentary scrutiny. That is not democracy. That is governance by stealth. Investor court mechanisms have been used worldwide to challenge health protections, environmental safeguards and public interest regulations. We cannot legislate to weaken our own autonomy. Ireland must retain full freedom to regulate for its people, its community and its environment. Independent Ireland stands for commonsense democracy. This Bill represents the opposite - complexity, distant tribunals and diminished accountability. We believe trade should work for Ireland, not against it. We support fair, open trade but only when it protects Irish jobs, Irish standards and Irish communities. By that measure, this Bill fails. For all of these reasons, Independent Ireland will oppose this legislation. We will not allow sovereignty, fairness and rural Ireland to be sacrificed for the sake of an investment court. Deputy Ward, who has unfortunately just left the Chamber - I do not like talking about people when they are not here - talked in support of the Bill in the very same way as Fine Gael is speaking out of two sides of its mouth in relation to Mercosur, just as Fianna Fáil is. There is no point in the Minister of State looking at me in confusion. I am the confused person. Regina Doherty came out last week in favour of so many aspects of the Mercosur deal. Barry Andrews came out saying he was going to vote for it. We are across the world telling Europe not to support this because it will ruin agriculture in this country, yet the Government parties cannot convince its own MEPs. Where are Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil going? Wake up. They are either with the people on this or they are against them. At the present time, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are split right down the middle. We are not. Independent Ireland has an MEP who is fighting tooth and nail to make sure this Mercosur deal does not ruin rural Ireland. I am pleading with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to have a debate in this House and make sure that does not happen. That is what they have been refusing this State and this country for the last number of weeks.

Sentiment score: 0.09