Aontú believes in self-determination. We believe that no other country, organisation or external investor court will make decisions in Ireland's best interests as good as those we will make. It is the very nature of national interests, corporate interests, etc. that self-determination is the only way to guarantee that our national interest is upheld. We learned that the hard way with regard to British rule and people in this country hold sovereignty very dear. We believe in co-operation with other countries and, at times, it is necessary to co-operate on mutually beneficial issues. In many ways, our partnership with the EU has facilitated that. In terms of the centralisation of the EU in recent times, more power should be returned to national parliaments than is the case and we oppose the federalisation of the European Union. We also support trade. We think trade is a good thing. Trade obviously lifts the standard of living of people around the world, etc. Trade also has its limits. Certain types of trade can be damaging to the environment and people's health. Unfair trade can be significantly damaging to workers' rights. If there are different standards and regulations in one jurisdiction and that jurisdiction is trading with another, it puts the other jurisdiction at an unfair disadvantage. As we mentioned, CETA, the transatlantic trade and investment partnership, TTIP, and Mercosur are all issues we have debated here over the years and all have come a cropper in terms of the disparity between regulations and standards. Different standards do a number of things. In terms of Mercosur, it is quite incredible. The Irish Farmers Journal investigation in South America showed very clearly that farmers and businesses there were using hormones and antibiotics at a phenomenal rate. That is very damaging to Ireland for a number of reasons. First, it introduces beef that is unhealthy for people in this country. Second, it gives the producers of that beef an unfair competitive advantage, which reduces the price of that beef and supplants Irish beef in European supermarkets. That has the outcome of pushing more farmers into poverty. We need to be very careful that when we trade, we do so in a fair capacity and make sure we defend the environment, health and workers' rights in this country. In terms of Mercosur, the actions of the Government over the past number of years have been disgraceful. The Government is speaking out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to Mercosur. The Government is unable to say exactly what it is doing to prevent Mercosur from going ahead. It has said it has certain concerns about it, but at the same time, MEPs are supporting it. Even Michael McGrath, the Commissioner, has come out in favour of Mercosur There is no real proof that the Government is using any of its leverage in the European Union to find the necessary qualified majority to put a stop to this. The Government is hiding behind the European decision-making mechanism in respect of Mercosur. Another aspect of Aontú policy is that we believe the judicial system, justice and the rule of law should be underwritten by the democratic decisions of this country. There has to be a system whereby the courts system in this country is based on the democratic decisions made in Ireland. If there are investor courts which lie outside our sovereign judicial system, the danger is that it creates pathways for major international corporations to use those courts to influence policy decisions in this country. Even if these corporations never take a particular case or never even win a case against the Irish Government, there is the potential that it creates a chilling effect in terms of Irish policy. Governments could use the excuse that they cannot make a policy decision because it would put them in danger of losing an investor court decision in the future. That is an incredible situation because it dilutes the democratic will of the Irish people. We should be able to decide policy based on the decisions made by the Irish people through their representatives in the Oireachtas. It frustrates me regularly that many of the elected representatives of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not feel they owe their democratic loyalty to the people who elected them to this House. Many of them feel they owe their loyalty on these issues to the European Union at times and international organisations. That is a real mistake, and it is a pity. It also a fact that most people are waking up to around the country. It is one of the reasons Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are losing significant support in rural areas. In many ways, both parties are retreating to the large urban areas as a result of their decisions. The Minister of State is looking at me in a perplexed fashion but if you look at Fine Gael, its centre of gravity is firmly in south Dublin at the moment. Many counties that would have been traditional Fine Gael counties do not have a Fine Gael TD. That is the result of not standing up for citizens in terms of these international agreements.

Sentiment score: 0.07