Divisions between the Green Party and its government partners in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil on the EU-Canada free trade deal surfaced again on Tuesday with the Greens saying they wanted a “pause” to “reflect” on a recent Supreme Court judging while Tánaiste Leo Varadkar told his Cabinet colleagues that it was the Government’s intention to press ahead with ratification.
Mr Varadkar briefed ministers at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting on the recent Supreme Court decision in a challenge taken by Green TD Patrick Costello. The court ruled last Friday that the Dáil could not vote to ratify the trade agreement without first amending the Arbitration Act.
Briefing journalists after the Cabinet meeting, Mr Varadkar’s spokesman said that the Government was committed to ratifying the treaty and noted that the initial assessment was that a referendum was not required. The Government would press ahead with amending the Arbitration Act and then ratify the treaty, he said.
“The Taoiseach’s and Tánaiste’s intention is to press ahead with ratification,” he said.
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Speaking in Dáil today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin also indicated that this was the Government’s intention.
However, a spokesman for Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who also attended the post-Cabinet briefing, said that the party wanted to “examine the next steps” and “discuss it with our partners”.
Pressed repeatedly by journalists, he declined to say that the Green Party supported the plan to amend the Arbitration Act and then hold a Dáil vote to ratify the treaty.
He said the party wanted to “pause, take some time, and reflect”. The spokesman acknowledged, however, that the programme for government committed the administration to ratify the deal.
He stressed that the Supreme Court judgment was a lengthy and complex document and would take time for the Government to digest.
But the Fine Gael spokesman said that the Government would push forward, adding “our economy is built on trade”.
Both spokesmen said that the leaders of the Government had not yet held a detailed discussion on the issue.
Green TDs Neasa Hourigan and Patrick Costello have reiterated their opposition to ratifying the treaty without a referendum. Both are currently outside the Green parliamentary party after voting against the Government on a separate issue, but are expected to reapply for membership shortly. Mr Ryan’s spokesman declined to say whether they would be asked for a commitment to support the Government in future votes in advance of their readmission.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved further supplementary estimates yesterday, bringing to €3.6 billion the amount of extra spending this year beyond what was budgeted for at the beginning of the year.
The Department of Education requires an extra €850 million to cover extra supports for schools to deal with the refugee crisis and the rising cost of energy, as well as the cost of the public sector pay agreement, which recently saw public servants receive pay increases backdated to last February.
The Department of Health needs an extra €1.4 billion to pay for extra pandemic costs and public sector pay rises, the Government spokesman said. A further €722m is required for the Department of Social Protection for once-off cost-of-living measures, and the Ukrainian humanitarian effort.
The additional spending in supplementary estimates is across 17 votes totalling an extra €4.4 billion in gross and €3.6 billion in net expenditure, the Department of Public expenditure said last night.
All money spent by the Government must be approved by a vote of the Dáil. When Government departments requiring extra money have exhausted their previously voted budgets, the Government must bring supplementary estimates before the Dáil for approval. These votes are likely to take place in early December.
