Mr. John Whelan:

Coming up to the last general election, we were delighted to see the proposals for the new structure for the Department and the subsequent incorporation of trade into foreign affairs. It has worked very well as far as we are concerned. There is some more work to be done but we are already seeing exceptionally good returns from this new structure.

Our rate of exports to Asia is extremely low, coming to 5%, while it is 20% for most other European countries. Again, most of our embassy and promotional support activity tends not to concentrate on this region. We have presented the recommendations of our Asia trade forum and strategy to the Department. I agree, as Mr. Slein said, that there needs to be more investment in this area. I note IDA Ireland’s chief executive officer, Mr. Barry O'Leary, recently stated there needs to be more time and effort to attract foreign direct investment but it is difficult if the resources are not there. We know the country has difficulties with its resource bank. However, if one has to reduce resources, it should not affect front-line forces such as embassies and field supports in Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. We need more embassies abroad and promotional staff.

We made a detailed proposal for the need for an Africa strategy at the Export Trade Council. Ireland has always had a good aid strategy for the continent. Up to 11 of our embassies are dealing with aid with the exception of our South African embassy which has just appointed Mr. Fred Klinkenberg to head up the trade portfolio there. The Government has taken up our suggestion and is beginning to train up some personnel in the other African embassies. It needs much more push, however. We have doubled our exports to Africa over the past two years. By the end of the decade, exports to Africa could come to €24 billion if the embassy, Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia structures work together. That is much more than we will get out of China and yet we are hearing a lot about the China trade. It is important to get a balance on this and play to our strengths. We have a significant embassy structure in Africa, unlike our position in China, and there is an opportunity to build on the goodwill created by our historic and current contribution to education, training and aid in Africa. Many other countries are moving into Africa and eating our breakfast when it comes to trade. We need to press on there. A recent Export Trade Council meeting agreed on a €2 million pilot project for fresh trading initiatives in Africa with half of the funds coming from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the other half coming from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The committee is aware we cannot negotiate joint free trade agreements as they fall to the EU. We noted the joint economic commissions were languishing, doing nothing. We raised this matter with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and his team. They moved on it and on 7 November 2011 he had a meeting with his Russian counterparts on this issue. He got it working with Russia, one of our fast-growing economic markets in the BRIC countries. The Minister of State, Deputy Costello, pushed it further. There are opportunities to extend this further.

Tremendous benefits are coming out of the Export Trade Council structure. One significant problem we are encountering is the difficulty the Irish visa regime creates for business people, as well as for students and tourists. We have had a significant move on this through the Export Trade Council. An interim structure was put in place for the London Olympics this summer. A more permanent structure is at the final stages of negotiation for implementation with the British embassy which will allow for the sharing of biometrics. It will give us a much more streamlined process and open up these markets, as well as the tourism and education sectors.

There are many opportunities in these areas and much good work has been done but a lot more needs to be done. We would stress, however, that the Department is under-resourced and needs fresh funding in the next budget. We are confident that such a move will deliver additional returns. We encourage the committee to push for it when possible.

The key sign-off during the Irish EU Presidency will be the EU-Canada free trade agreement. We pushed very hard on this and made several presentations on it early last year. The Canadian ambassador informed us Ireland was likely to be the largest beneficiary of this agreement. It is important it is signed off during our presidency. There are so many developments in the EU but they are very slow. This agreement would get us a clear win if we could get it signed off during the presidency.