Sir, – Sinn Féin's Matt Carthy MEP (May 27th) suggests that supporters of TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) are somehow ignoring Ireland's interests. The facts show the opposite is the case.
Trade between Europe and America is vital to Ireland’s interests. Over 100,000 households in Ireland are directly reliant on American businesses for their income and employment. Young Irish graduates are getting well-paid, interesting and stimulating jobs with excellent conditions from US technology companies. These are the very jobs that previous generations left these shores to pursue. Why does Sinn Féin ignore these voices?
Countless more small and medium-sized Irish businesses provide goods and services to 700 American firms operating in Ireland. Independent research has shown that Ireland would benefit twice as much as Europe from a transatlantic trade deal. To say supporters of international trade are ignoring Ireland’s interests is naive at best and plain cynical at worst.
Even TTIP’s most ardent detractors acknowledge that a negotiation is not the same thing as an agreement. Reading Mr Carty’s letter you would think that a deal is already in place. It’s not, and no European government or MEP will vote for a bad deal. But let’s at least see what the final proposals will be.
Matt Carthy uses the example of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) to suggest EU governments will be sued by corporate America. Let’s be clear, Europe has nothing to do with Nafta. The recent EU-Canada trade deal (which Ireland is a part of) allows for an investor-state dispute system, yet and we have not succumbed to corporate despotism.
No amount of conspiracy peddling can detract from the fact that TTIP does not prevent governments, at any level, from providing or supporting services in areas such as water, education, health, and social services. What TTIP can do is give us new and better jobs, inward investment and a reason for the next generation to live and work at home. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN HAYES MEP,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.