Mr. Kieran Tobin:

The India issue is being worked on strongly at EU level and a free trade agreement is being sought. Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation, WTO, recently bore fruit. While Russia did not have tariff barriers, it had many non-tariff barriers to trade. Our products, including Jameson Irish Whiskey, and other products had been doing well in Russia, but with the country's accession to the WTO, all of the non-tariff barriers will disappear and the market will become considerably more open.

Our permanent representative in Brussels does a good job in this area and would be well allied with countries such as France and the UK, which are also large exporters. They form a strong coalition, which is to be commended.