Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. I look forward to working with him and the other members of the committee. I am new to this area and in that context, I thank our guests for their presentations because they highlight the severe difficulties experienced in the region in great detail. As the Chairman indicated, the situation has not improved but rather has deteriorated.

Have our guests, their colleagues or other organisations working in this area raised the banning of imported products at European Union level? Has it been raised at the World Trade Organisation, WTO? Both the European Union and the WTO are extremely important with regard to the regulation of trade. From a national perspective, it is not that easy to ban the importation of products. It would be important to foster European Union co-operation in respect of this matter. In addition, it must be remembered that the European Union is an extremely important partner within the WTO framework.