The Deputy has not quoted the Constitution, which governs everything we do. The Constitution states at Article 29: 1. Ireland affirms its devotion to the ideal of peace and friendly co-operation amongst nations founded on international justice and morality. 2. Ireland affirms its adherence to the principle of the pacific settlement of international disputes by international arbitration or judicial determination. That is what governs this Government, it governs the Dáil and it governs our military. That is what we d…

We are governed by the Constitution. We are governed by this Parliament. That is all we are trying to do here. Operation Irini continues. That goes on, but our people came home. That is the reality of the triple lock, and it is a reality that is wrong for this country. It is a reality that is wrong for a sovereign country. If there are discussions with the Lebanese Government about future peacekeeping missions there, it is wrong that we would not be involved in them because of the triple lock.

I attended that meeting on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in Brussels recently. There was also an informal meeting recently, but the meeting in Brussels was a formal one. It took place against the backdrop of an evolving and increasingly complex security environment. It was a key moment for EU member states to reaffirm their steadfast solidarity with, and support for, Ukraine. There were two main topics on the agenda: EU support to Ukraine and the repercussions of the situation in the Middle East on Europe…

That certainly was mentioned at the meeting of defence ministers, but the meeting was mainly focused on the defence response at the moment. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, at the Foreign Affairs Council and the Taoiseach at the European Council will be discussing that matter in considerable depth this month. There is certainly a lot of discussion about it, but what is important is that we continue to support Ukraine in the meantime. There needs to be peace, but it needs to be a just peace. It needs to be fair to Ukra…

In relation to UNIFIL in particular, there are soldiers in it from all over the world. There were some deaths at the weekend. I pay tribute to them as well. That mission, which is a United Nations-run mission, will end. As far as I can tell, there is no other European Union country that needs a UN mandate to send their troops on peacekeeping missions. I have spoken to Switzerland and its troops can go on other missions, not just UN missions, for example. They deal with their neutrality in a different way from us. T…

What the Senator is saying mixes up two things. Insofar as she is arguing that an investor could bring a claim to the ISDS system instead of the CETA tribunal, this would only be possible subject to the relevant consent requirements, that is, that the parties to the dispute consent to submit to an ISDS mechanism. We would have to consent to that. Let me be 100% clear on that. Regarding Article 8.23 of CETA, what the Senator said is not correct as regards the reference to the ICSID and the UNCITRAL rules in Article …

It is not an ICSID tribunal, for a start. All of the rules around the right to regulate, the right for the state to do what it wishes in relation to public services, housing and all the public good that a state does, are not in any way impacted by this. This is not a return to the old system. It is simply about applying rules within the new system. Everything else we discussed applies within the new, reformed system of the investor courts. It is factually wrong to state that investors have a choice to go to the old…

I am happy to respond.

I welcome that Senator Higgins has moved on from her initial statement, which certainly gave the impression to everybody that there was a workaround of the new system.

There is not a workaround of the new system. The Senator has acknowledged that it is a new system and that there are protections and changes made. We have been clear that this Bill is putting in place a framework based on the new model, which is the basis of all the modern EU trade agreements that have investment protection dispute resolution commitments in them. It is the Government's clear position that this Bill and its order-making power will only apply to the approach in CETA and other similar agreements. We h…

It does.

It was not.

That is an important point. It is not done personally by me.

I have rejected that point on a number of occasions. I have to reject the idea that I personally will be deciding on these things. If a government is to decide to sign up to an international agreement of this nature, it will have to make a decision. The Dáil, under a very specific constitutional provision, also has to make the decision. That is an opportunity for the Dáil to decide yea or nay. The impression given by this debate on the legislation is that, somehow, it gives a carte blanche to the Government. It doe…

There is no fast-track process.

What is happening here is that the Government, and the previous Government, very clearly wanted to have the Dáil ratify the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and other trade agreements. A challenge was brought through the courts. The court said it was not possible under the current provisions, but it also said that if the Government wishes to do it, then, under its prerogative and the Dáil's prerogative, this is a way it could be done that would be constitutional. That is all we are doing here. There needs…

I was pretty robust with everybody who spoke in the previous debate. I robustly defended my own position and tried to get the correct information out. I will be robust with Sinn Féin now because, quite frankly, it is hard to take seriously its amendment to insert subsection (3C), which states, "materially compromise the State’s obligation ... to give effect to European Union law (including the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms) and to preserve its coherence and integrity". Every time there has been a refer…

That is what it is about.

There are a number of points to be made. Again, I cannot go any further on the right to regulate. I have quoted it to almost everybody and there have been statements made by Supreme Court judges on it. Again, there are cases being quoted by Senators that do not relate to the type of system under CETA. There was a German case to which Senator Higgins referred on the issue of tax collection. The CETA tribunal will not be allowed to make such an order. It does not even arise. It does not even relate to the legislation…

I cannot put the matter any further. The amendments are trying to tie the hands of the High Court. We are trying to give the High Court discretion. The items the Senator mentioned are not within the constitutional order of the State or the legal order of the EU. I do not believe it would be helpful to start expanding on what Mr. Justice Hogan said in his decision in the Costello case. We have examined that decision and drafted the legislation in accordance with it in order that it would be appropriate for the High …