Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore TD has called for tomorrow\u2019s vote on the CETA trade deal to be postponed, warning that it could affect the Government\u2019s ability to legislate for climate action measures.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson for Climate Action and Biodiversity, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this trade deal comes a very controversial mechanism which allows companies to sue an EU member state for potential profits lost if a Government decides to change their policies or regulations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be devastating for many reasons, including in the area of health and housing, but also in in relation to the Government drafting legislation and policies to tackle climate change and biodiversity. If a company feels a Bill or policy drafted to mitigate climate change might negatively impact on their profit margin, it could technically sue the Irish Government under CETA.<\/p>\n
\u201cFurthermore, all of this would be settled in special tribunals held outside our own justice system in a non-transparent manner. This is hardly appropriate in an age where transparency and due diligence is a basic requirement in a democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chilling effect of this deal could be enormous as the Government is already wary of legislating strongly for climate action for fear of being held up in court. CETA will reduce the Government\u2019s capacity for stronger decision-making, which is what we need in our fight against climate change.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf companies can sue the Irish Government for compensation, not only will the taxpayer be out of pocket, but our ability to mitigate climate change and protect our biodiversity will be diminished. We cannot afford for that to happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Social Democrats are calling for a delay in moving CETA through the D\u00e1il until a full and proper public debate on the issue is facilitated. Rushing it through before Christmas with limited amount of time for a debate ignores the huge concerns the public have in relation to this trade deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
December 14, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore TD has called for tomorrow\u2019s vote on the CETA trade deal to be postponed, warning that it could affect the Government\u2019s ability to legislate for climate action measures. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson for Climate Action and Biodiversity, said: \u201cWith this trade deal comes a very controversial mechanism […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[268,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n