Gabhaim buíochas leis na Teachtaí as a gcuid ráiteas agus ceisteanna. Tapóidh mé an deis seo le labhairt go gairid faoi mhíreanna eile ar chlár gnó Chomhairle Eorpach Mhí an Mhárta, lena n-airítear slándáil agus cosaint na hEorpa, imirce, cruinniú mullaigh an euro, sciath don daonlathas agus cosaint leanaí ar líne. Tháinig ceannairí le chéile i gcruinniú mullaigh an euro chun machnamh a dhéanamh ar chúrsaí eacnamaíocha agus airgeadais reatha agus tionchar na coinbhleachta leanúnaí sa Mheánoirthear agus i Murascaill…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue at a time when Ireland's contribution to the global financial ecosystem has never been more vital or more visible. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the importance of the funds industry in Ireland and the need for competitiveness. I apologise; copies of my script are on the way. We thought they had already been sent down. The latest estimate from IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland indicates that just over 20,000 people are directly employed in the funds sector. Furthermo…

On the alternative investment fund managers directive, the UCITS directive, the transposition was due to be done today but I am very sorry to say that this was not done by the Minister today. There will be a slight administrative delay. Work is continuing to finalise the draft statutory instruments. We hope the delay will be short and they will be ready for signature in the coming weeks. Everybody has to take responsibility for late transposition because it is a legal obligation on the State to transpose directives…

In April of last year, the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment obtained Government approval for the general scheme of the short-term letting and tourism Bill. Once enacted, this Bill will provide a statutory framework for regulating the short-term letting sector, including the establishment of a national register. The register will operate in compliance with the EU Short-Term Rental Regulation (EU) 2024/1028, which comes into effect on 20 May 2026. The register will be operated by Fáilte Ireland and wil…

I set out the position and the increase in the number of short-term lettings, even since 2022. The regulation the Deputy mentioned does impose obligations on the State to provide a register. That was passed with almost nobody voting against it in the European Parliament. Nearly 500 members of the European Parliament supported that. As set out in the A New Era for Irish Tourism document published last December, the introduction of regulatory controls for short-term letting is intended to ensure that tourism develops…

I was there with Deputy O’Sullivan at least twice.

I will not forget my visits to Glanmire. The Deputy will remember that I was quite active on the issue when the Sarsfields Hurling Club suffered a disaster. In that case, we established a unique fund so that Sarsfields and other clubs got funding because of the flooding disaster. Another project in Glanmire, unfortunately, escaped my abilities to sort out although, as the Deputy said, it was not my responsibility but that of another body. I am certainly very familiar with Glanmire. I would be only too happy if I we…

I will bring it back to the Minister. Up to eight buildings will be selected this year for the State-led initiative. That will provide places. The level of investment will ramp up during the lifetime of the Government. The initial approach is to purchase and refurbish buildings, given that that is a faster route to delivery, while the option of building new facilities will also be considered. Services will be offered on a not-for-profit basis by third parties. Where a project is being considered without an operator…

That is not my group.

I will say that I am not an EPP member.

As a point of clarity I am in Renew Europe, and I am proud to be part of Renew Europe. At the outset I return briefly to first principles and set out the reasons behind this legislation. The Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025 seeks to put Ireland, which is a country that greatly benefits from international trade, in a position where it can decide to ratify the range of EU trade and investment agreements we massively benefit from as EU member states. There is a bit of a misconception in what Deputy Ó Laoghaire says b…

It is not the same. It is a different system and people keep quoting the previous system, which the Canada trade agreement has actually worked to improve and to make it more transparent. That is important. Irish companies need access to effective international remedies abroad and companies investing in Ireland want similar reassurance. The Irish Government is working to make the economy more competitive and resilient to economic shocks, and the Government’s approach in bringing forward the legislation has been ques…

I do believe.

Deputies have raised a number of cases, none involving Ireland. In fact, there was a letter in the newspaper today which criticised me for describing these cases as relatively rare and then it went on to give the reason in the same letter why we have relatively low numbers of cases involving Ireland. We have very few. The cases that have been talked about are not related to CETA. Even the example used of the Canadian company is not under the CETA agreement.

Exactly. That is my point.

That is my point. These examples have been given as if they are directly related to the ratification of CETA or the passage of this legislation. The cases the Deputies mentioned have not been decided under the investor court system. They have been decided under the old, long-standing system of investor state dispute settlement, ISDS. I have already outlined the difficulties with that. We felt there was a lack of consistency and predictability, a lack of transparency and the issue of the right to regulate, which I h…

I had nothing to do with the scheduling of the debate on football. I presume that is a matter for the Business Committee. As Deputies are aware, the Costello judgment prevented Ireland's ratification of CETA and other mixed EU trade agreements containing similar investment provisions. The Supreme Court in the Costello case not only identified constitutional concerns that prevented the ratification of CETA but the court then identified a legislative path to allow us to cure the concerns that had been raised. The Gov…

I will answer.

To be clear, as one Deputy said, there is an element of repetition. That is what happened on Committee Stage when there was no time limit whatsoever and yet, quite frankly, the debate ran out of steam. This is a Bill that is not even two pages long in total. It is a very short piece of legislation. It is a very net point. We have not seen much debate on the individual amendments tonight to get through them. We have heard the overall points that have been made time and time again. I want to be clear about one thing.…

Sé sheachtain ó shin, dhúisigh muid go léir san Eoraip agus trasna an domhain le radharc nua is drámata de bhuamaí agus cogadh sa Mheánoirthear. Dá bharr seo, tá taithí ag gach tír san Eoraip le méadú ar phraghas an ola mar aon le ganntanas. Baineann sé seo le gach duine. Tá sé seo ag tarlú na mílte míle ón tír seo, ach tá éifeacht láidir aige ar phobal, ar ghnóthaí agus ar theaghlaigh na hÉireann. Mar Aire Stáit a bhfuil freagrachtaí na ngnóthaí Eorpacha orm, tá a fhios agam, ó bheith ag labhairt le mo chomhghleac…