Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We work closely with the Department of Education and Skills. As the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton, was Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation previously, he fully understands what is needed from trade, as well as what we need to get from his Department.

The Senator mentioned India. The Minister of State, Deputy Breen, was on a trade mission to India where he met representatives of 13 Irish companies from the aviation, financial services, pharmaceutical and health sectors. He visited Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi. I also addressed a chamber of commerce meeting. The Senator is right that we need to look for new trade opportunities and ensure that we diversify into markets that we have not really explored in the past because we relied on the UK so much. Languages are hugely important. As a country, we are lucky that we speak English. I spoke about permits, which is one of the reasons we look for that skills base. As a former school principal, I would love if our children were more proficient in different languages.