Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, I must leave early. I will deal with what we achieved in two areas, Irish development aid and the trade opportunity that Vietnam presents.

The people would be proud of the work of the ambassador, H.E. Mr. Damien Cole, and his staff. It is important we publicise the work they do and what they have achieved. Irish aid has been spent in areas that provide relief not only in the medium term but also in the long term. We visited schools and health care facilities and saw the road infrastructure that was built by Irish taxpayers' money. This is playing a significant role in humanitarian terms.

From the perspective of opportunities in trade, and Deputy Deasy will speak in more detail on this, when we think of south-east Asia, we think of China, which is a major market, but Vietnam has a population of 91 million in a region of 600 million people and it has a growing middle class. The growing economy represents great opportunities, particularly from a food perspective. What came across to us is the need for more State agency personnel on the ground to promote trade, especially in agricultural products. The market is very competitive but there is significant potential for trade. If one thing is to come from our report, it is the need for the relevant bodies in Ireland to work with the bodies in Vietnam to ensure they are properly staffed and resourced in what is a very tough global market economy. With the proper investment in manpower on the ground, we would have a much better opportunity of trading into these countries.

I thank the officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and all those who participated on the trip. We had a very full programme over a number of days. From the taxpayer's perspective, we can be proud of the way Irish aid is being spent. As with all aid programmes, it must be kept under constant review as the country is beginning to thrive, but there is massive social poverty and deprivation.

There are opportunities to trade and we should concentrate on dairy products. We should ensure we reap the rewards of the product we sell to them. During our visit we met the Vietnamese Minister for planning and investment and Deputy Deasy raised with him that Ireland is open for business and that we would like to do business with them. It was a very worthwhile trip and taxpayers can be reassured that money is spent prudently. The aid programme must be kept under constant review and there are significant opportunities for us there.

I apologise that I must leave the meeting.