Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have two queries. Will the Tánaiste clarify whether an agreement, once ratified by Ireland, comes into force in advance of all of the EU countries ratifying it or remains in abeyance until everybody has ratified it?

The Chairman raised the issue of Indonesia. I am interested in that country. When I visited two years ago, there was the sense of a country really emerging, with an emerging middle class. They have the growth in their population under control to some extent. It is a large young population looking for middle-class trade. It offers significant opportunities for Ireland. In terms of opening an embassy, I wonder is it jumping the gun in advance of some kind of a trade agreement or should we circumvent that. Everybody talks about getting into China. There must be easier ways to develop trade than getting into China because everybody seems to be focusing on that. Certainly, Indonesia gave me the impression of a county that was ready to start trading with the rest of the world and where incomes were getting to the stage where they wanted all that the West had to offer and were more than willing to buy them.