Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Maguire to the meeting. The worst thing that could happen would be for the embassy from which one sought a visa to be located in a country of which one's own country was a former colony. I can envisage all sorts of difficulties arising, depending on where one was obliged to apply for a visa. For example, in the case of Madrid, the Spanish state formerly had colonies in parts of the Arab world, which would send the wrong signal as one would almost be going down the same path. On foot of the budget, the amount of money available for this area is being cut back by approximately 2%. This does not simply pertain to the Arab world, as one could make the same comparison regarding difficulties in the United States. For instance, with regard to Silicon Valley, 40% of trade between the United States and Ireland comes from one particular region and the argument would be that one must increase the number of staff located there. During the aforementioned Question Time exchanges with the Tánaiste, we noted that in the course of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Government intends to recall a large number of staff at a time when it would be desirable for exports to be increasing, not decreasing, given the problems with the local economy. While attempts are being made to save money by bringing back staff, in the long term we probably are losing out. If running the six-month Presidency results in a drop-off of trade with these countries, it will be a major difficulty. While this is probably a policy decision that must be made, I seek Mr. Maguire's views in this regard.

Mr. Maguire made reference to the barriers posed by visas, but what other barriers exist in respect of trade? Are there difficulties with Irish entrepreneurs travelling to that part of the world, in which there clearly are problems? For example, Mr. Maguire mentioned Libya, where it appears that major difficulties persist on the ground. There also are difficulties with regard to Bahrain, which members of this joint committee have raised, as well as having discussions on the sectarian nature of that state, in which one religion has clearly been the subject of discrimination. Do these issues also create problems by constituting barriers to trade? Moreover, do they form moral barriers to trading with some countries which clearly have bad human rights records? Mr. Maguire mentioned travelling to Iraq, presumably during the period of Saddam Hussein's rule. Do regimes, such as that headed by Gaddafi and some of the other dictators in the region, also pose problems? I note there were problems in the past regarding insurance for products and so on. For example, there were problems with regard to the transportation of beef. Do these problems persist today? What are the main products being exported to the region? In the main, are they related to food and agribusiness? Overall, I note the biggest export sector appears to be chemicals and related products. Is the position similar for this region? Given the region's instability, could Ireland get favourable status in respect of access to oil and so on? Has consideration ever been given to putting in place a bartering system with some countries involving food for oil or whatever?