Sir, – As leaders of the largest Canadian companies in Ireland and Irish companies doing business in Canada, we join with the Ireland Canada Business Association (ICBA) to ask the Government to ratify the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (Ceta) between Europe and Canada in the Oireachtas this autumn.
Since 2018, the number of jobs provided by Canadian companies in Ireland has grown by 25 per cent to over 15,000. The number of new Canadian companies expanding into Ireland has more than doubled since Brexit was announced. In recent years, Ireland has enjoyed a trade surplus of as much as €1 billion with Canada, with €1.7 billion of Irish goods being exported to the country in 2019.
Once ratified by all EU member states, Ceta will remove 99 per cent of customs duties, and in doing so, create and sustain more employment in Ireland. We urge the Government to ratify Ceta on behalf of not just our members, but all citizens of Ireland at a time when trade is being diminished as a result of Brexit and Covid-19. Further delay in ratifying Ceta could hinder Ireland’s post-Covid recovery.
A total of 14 other EU member states have already ratified Ceta, which puts Ireland in the position of now playing catch-up with its EU counterparts.
:fill(white):background_color(white)/static.themebuilder.aws.arc.pub/irishtimes/1647534191476.png)
We believe that this should be a priority of the Government. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS COLLENETTE,
Chairman,
Ireland Canada Business
Association,
Leixlip, Co Kildare;
KEN FINEGAN,
Managing Director,
Greenfield Global Ireland;
VINCENT HARRISON,
Managing Director,
Dublin Airport Authority;
SUE KELLY,
Director of Operations ,
RX Source;
ALAN NISHIDA,
Imax;
TOM O’ BRIEN ,
Managing Director,
Nephin Energy Ireland;
BLAITHIN O’DONNELL,
Sales Manager Ireland,
Air Canada;
JOHN POPOLIZIO,
Director,
Sovy ;
JOHN RIORDAN,
Director of Support ,
Shopify;
ALAN FULLERTON,
Chief Executive,
Teknicor.