Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas don Chathaoirleach agus don choiste as an gcuireadh a bheith anseo inniu chun caint faoi chúrsaí idir Éirinn agus Ceanada. Táim díreach ar ais ó Cheanada. Tá sé suimiúil gur tír dhátheangach í agus is é sin rud ar fiú a thabhairt faoi deara. I am delighted to be here, and to be joined by my colleagues who have already been introduced by the Cathaoirleach. Amanda Smith is in her first week in the Department, so I welcome her. I thank Suzanne Drisdelle and the ambassador, in particular, for their assistance in preparing our programme for our recent trip.

I do not need to tell the Cathaoirleach about the very strong bond between Ireland and Canada, a bond formed through the creation of many partnerships across the Atlantic Ocean over many years. Bilateral relations between Canada and Ireland are close, with, as I have referred to, a long-standing combination, reaching back over generations, of family ties, cultural affinities and shared democratic traditions. In fact, approximately 14% of the Canadian population claims some Irish ancestry. March was named as Irish heritage month across Canada this year, in an acknowledgement of the contribution Irish Canadians are making.

The Ireland Canada Business Association, ICBA, has been instrumental in promoting and developing trade and industrial links between Ireland and Canada. The business communities in Ireland and Canada have strong ties with each other and new linkages are being developed on an ongoing basis. The ICBA has been key in strengthening these relationships since it was founded in 1978 and it provides an essential representative voice for more than 90 companies conducting business between the two countries. The Irish Canada Economic Opportunity, a report written by Jim Power, was commissioned by the ICBA and launched in September. It provides a powerful confirmation of the current strong status of trade relations between Ireland and Canada:

The Ireland Canada relationship is thriving politically, economically, and culturally. Ireland remains a stable economy and continues to attract Canadian companies who are looking for a like-minded open business environment with a global outlook. In turn Canada has become an important export market for Irish SMEs who wish to access the North American marketplace. The economic value of trade between both countries is a focus point for policy makers and business leaders while the societal value of the relationship is one that is much valued.

According to this report, Irish exports to Canada could double in the next five years. It also notes that while Ireland is very heavily dependent on US companies in the context of trade and FDI, Canada also offers significant potential for Ireland to diversify its external trading relationships. My own recent trade mission to Canada set out to strengthen our relationships with key Canadian partners across industries of strategic importance to Ireland. The trade mission also promoted world-class Irish companies and SMEs that are growing and developing business opportunities across Canada. Canada is a key export market, particularly for our indigenous exporters, with more than 400 Enterprise Ireland clients doing business there. The value of Ireland's total trade with Canada in 2021, which is the latest year for which service trade data is available, was €6 billion, which is a 150% increase over 10 years. The value of exports from Ireland to Canada in 2021 was €4.2 billion, while imports were valued at €1.6 billion. Some 69% of exports from Ireland to Canada in 2021 were service exports and 31% were goods exports.

Canada is Ireland's tenth-largest goods export market and 20th-largest services export market. Goods exports to Canada in 2022 increased significantly, by 156% to €3.4 billion, due mainly to increases in exports of organic chemicals and medical and pharma products. Ireland’s main goods exports to Canada are organic chemicals - mainly for the pharmaceutical sector, medical and pharmaceutical products and inorganic chemicals. Ireland’s main goods imports from Canada are cereals and cereal preparations, medical and pharmaceutical products and petroleum, petroleum products and related materials.

Enterprise Ireland opened its first Canadian office in Toronto in October 2006. In 2019, IDA Ireland opened its first presence in Canada and both organisations are co-located in Toronto. The establishment, under the Government’s Global Ireland 2025 initiative, of the Enterprise Ireland presence in Montreal in 2020 is a further investment in the potential of the Canadian market. That office was officially opened in November 2021. Both agencies took advantage of the recent trade mission to showcase the positive economic impact of their presence in market. Enterprise Ireland's key purpose on our recent mission was to strengthen our relationships with key Canadian partners across industries of strategic importance to Ireland, to promote world-class Irish companies that have achieved leading market positions across Canada, to support continued client growth by providing forums for Enterprise Ireland client companies targeting the Canadian market, especially its construction and fintech markets, to connect with current and prospective business partners and to build on our recent record-high exports of over $452 million to Canada by Enterprise Ireland client companies.

IDA Ireland's opportunities on the recent visit were to promote Ireland’s attractiveness as a location for Canadian foreign direct investment. Since it opened in 2019, IDA Ireland's Toronto office has been successful in growing investments made by Canadian companies in Ireland, as well as attracting new companies for investment. Our recent mission was the first in-person trade mission to Canada since 2021 and gave me an opportunity to restate Ireland’s global position in a post-pandemic world as a stable location for investment and expansion, despite an ever-changing global environment for investment flows. IDA Ireland also used the opportunity to build relationships with representatives and decision-makers from important IDA Ireland clients in Canada. It used the opportunity to promote transformation, sustainability and research, development and innovation in line with the White Paper on enterprise. It was again an opportunity to showcase a wide range of sectors typical of Canada, which is diverse in industrial output. Canada is home to some of the world’s leading financial services, technology and consumer, content and business services companies as well as a growing life sciences sector. Our recent mission offered an opportunity to showcase the sectoral spread of companies from Canada that choose to locate in Ireland.

In leading the recent trade mission to Vancouver and Toronto, I had the opportunity to highlight Canada as an important trading partner for Ireland, especially across the construction, digital tech, fintech and life science sectors. In 2022, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland delivered strong growth in the Canadian market, with, as I said, Enterprise Ireland client exports reaching a record €452 million, which is up 11%. This trade mission built upon the recent success of Irish business and will I hope create, along with members' visit, further opportunities and profile for investment into Ireland and especially for Irish companies exporting to Canada.