Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am aware that growth in service exports has counterbalanced the decline in manufacturing exports but I put it to the Minister that when a country’s manufacturing begins to decline it is in serious trouble. In recent years, when we pointed to the weakness in the domestic economy the Minister repeatedly stated that, provided we remained competitive, our thriving exports, most of which go to Britain and the European Union, would be our way out.