Green TD in court action over need for referendum on trade deal

A GREEN Party TD has lodged a High Court case against his own government in order to establish whether a referendum is needed to ratify the controversial Ceta trade deal.

Patrick Costello confirmed he lodged proceedings in the High Court against the Government earlier this week to seek clarification on who gets to ratify the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (Ceta) – a trade agreement between the US and Canada.

The Coalition’s efforts to ratify the deal by way of a Dáil vote have been delayed amid a dispute in the Green Party over the deal, which Mr Costello and his party colleague Neasa Hourigan have voiced strong opposition to.

Opponents of the trade agreement claim it would allow multinationals to sue Ireland through an investment courts system (ICS) if strong climate and social rights protections are brought in.

Ms Hourigan has said she will not vote for the deal when it comes before the Dáil.

The three Coalition party leaders have agreed to allow an Oireachtas committee to further scrutinise the deal – but Mr Costello, a TD for Dublin South-Central, says a referendum may be needed.

Legal proceedings seeking a ruling on the question were lodged on Monday and the case is listed in the High Court as ‘Costello v Government of Ireland and Others’.

In a statement, Mr Costello said: “I had sought the opinion of counsel on the ratification process, in particular the investor court system element of Ceta which will come into effect if ratified.

“The ICS involves a transfer of sovereignty and of judicial power incompatible with the Constitution. It is the opinion of counsel that there is a good stateable case that the ratification of Ceta, and in particular the ratification of the ICS without a referendum, would be contrary to Article 15 and Article 34 of the Constitution.

“It is of fundamental importance that the members of the Dáil, who would vote on whether to ratify Ceta, know that our votes are constitutional. Only the courts can give us complete certainty on that question.

“I have taken this action as an individual citizen and it is a personal action. The treaty will be going to Oireachtas Committees for scrutiny on the question of should we ratify Ceta and what are the consequences.

“This legal challenge will answer fully the question of how we ratify this – can we do it by Dáil vote or do we need a referendum?”

However, at a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar criticised Mr Costello, saying it was “unprecedented” for a government TD to sue the government.

He said the argument that Mr Costello was doing it as an individual – and not a member of the Coalition – did “not wash with me”.

He said it was “more serious” than voting against the Government and that he had said this to Green Party leader Eamon Ryan.