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Eamon Ryan did not attend the Green Party parliamentary party meeting on Monday after the Ceta controversy.
Ryan is understood to have had a subcommittee meeting and an additional meeting with the other two government leaders during the time his own TDs “had an all-powerful discussion” about the bill, according to some of those present.
The free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union was to be ratified in the Dáil after a 55-minute debate on Tuesday.
Voting will now not continue until January after some Green TDs said they would not vote for it.
If ratified, Ceta would allow corporations to sue the Irish state through an ‘Investor Court System’ for regulatory decisions that negatively impact their profits, which could have negative consequences for climate legislation.
The Green Party held a party parliamentary meeting on Thursday where the Ceta issue was discussed “briefly” according to sources.
When it appeared on the Dáil calendar on Friday, it is understood that TD Neasa Hourigan reached out to other TDs and leaders to ask how the bill had been scheduled. It is understood that Ms Hourigan did not receive a response, and then contacted the party on Saturday morning to inform them that she would not be voting on the bill, after which she was contacted by party whip Marc Ó Cathasaigh.
We are relieved to learn that the #CETA The vote has been postponed, and yesterday he wrote to the government urging them to do so.
We look forward to your scrutiny, consultation, and informed debate on this incredibly important topic.
Read our full letter below: pic.twitter.com/7WlIpoNpTB
– Environmental Pillar (@Env_Pillar) December 15, 2020
It is understood that some Green Ministers at this time contacted the government asking for a delay in the vote.
The issue came to a head on Monday when it was revealed that Green Ministers raised no objections to the vote on the Ceta bill in November when it was discussed in Cabinet.
After a tense day and a “robust” meeting between Eamon Ryan, Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar, the vote was postponed until January. In that time, Ryan is expected to ensure that all of his TDs vote for the bill. Sources say there was palpable frustration that Eamon Ryan failed to put his TDs aside.
At the same time, the Green Party held a “vicious” parliamentary meeting through Zoom.
Some of those present said to the that the meeting between DT and senators became tense, in which DTs who had problems with the bill were labeled as “delusional” by their colleagues and supporters of the bill argued that if Ceta entered the Government Program of “trade agreements” was “a matter of opinion.”
The Green Party’s position on Ceta specifically has not changed or been superseded since it was agreed at the party’s convention by a motion that the party “will work for the rejection of Ceta in Ireland and the European Parliament” in 2016.
Green Sen. Pauline O’Reilly noted that the Ceta deal was raised at a parliamentary party meeting as early as November 13, however some TDs argued that there was no mention that there would be a vote on the issue in December.
It is understood that several councilors have made it clear to the TDs that if the party ratifies the treaty, they will leave it.
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