Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I begin by sharing a short story from last week, when I had the pleasure of leading a trade mission to Russia on behalf of this country. As part of such trips, one meets emerging business leaders who have an Irish background - this was in one of the world's largest growing economies. One member of the diaspora I met was the director general of a large multinational in Russia and the wider CIS region. He spoke with nothing but pride about Ireland's economic prospects. From the perspective of Russia, he saw his homeland as a country that had been in the mire but which has now bounced back and is beginning to emerge and reassert itself. Not many countries or people have faced their difficulties with the same honesty as the Irish have. The same gentleman fully recognised, as all of us do, that it has been a painful process and that people are hurting. From his perspective, given what I saw and what he said, we are restoring pride in Ireland, slowly and gradually, but we are getting there. I assure the Deputies we will get there.

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