Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We have heard statistics for the growth in trade links with Russia as compared with China. I would like to focus on the Chinese element. Do the organisations view China as a particularly different market compared to other countries? Also, are all of the players singing off the same hymn sheet? The embassies were mentioned. We are all aware of the value of embassies. While we would like to see more opened, three of our embassies have had to be closed owing to the economic climate. However, there is a hidden other sector that we should look at. Dublin city has an international office. Dublin is the capital of Ireland. Many multinationals are based in the Dublin region. Many years ago, Ireland entered into negotiations with San Jose which resulted in the development of a productive relationship between this country and an Irish-American mayor and academic. We have never looked back since. The relationship built at that level was phenomenal.

We have gone to a lot of trouble in building relationships with China, including through the twinning of Dublin with Beijing and Cork with Shanghai. As an individual citizen who happens to be a Deputy, I met, along with Dr. Lemming, with a range of senior executives of a company called Baosteel, which is either the second or third largest steel manufacturing company in China. They were brought in by a Cork company which has since shifted its manufacturing plan to China. Are we pulling all the strings together? For example, we have been hearing about airline operations to America. When the Lord Mayor of Dublin visited China he was able to open doors that were phenomenal for the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, which entered into negotiations with two or three Chinese airlines with a view to establishing links. Do both organisations recognise the value of Dublin, the capital city, as a marketing tool? Do they also recognise it has an international office and engages in a big way with St. Petersburg and China? Is everyone pulling together in order to achieve greater successes, particularly from the point of view of China?