Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

It should have been circulated. I am sorry about that.

There is a strong development dimension to the core negotiations on industrial goods. Thus, the request for market opening by the EU is being modulated to reflect the level of development of the country to whom the request is directed. The request is not designed to disadvantage poorer developing counties. In the first place, on industrial tariffs, the EU is proposing that there should be differentiated tariff reduction commitments between developed and developing countries. Poorer developing countries, for example, will be offered flexibilities such as less than formula cuts and longer transition periods before implementation of commitments. Additionally, least developed countries, under EU proposals, are not being asked to reduce tariffs. This differentiated approach of non-reciprocation is a key element of the EU's determination to deliver the development dimension of the Doha Round which Ireland fully supports.

I now turn to the services negotiations. These negotiations are being conducted under the terms of the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services, known as the GATS negotiations. The EU is concerned at the poor quality, for the most part, of the GATS offers that have been tabled to date by key trading partners. The EU has a relatively open and liberal services market and would wish to see reciprocal market opening from our main trading partners, including developed countries and the more advanced developing countries such as Brazil, India and China.

Essentially, EU member states including Ireland, are seeking better market access and a more transparent and predictable environment for European service suppliers in third country markets. Ireland supports an ambitious approach in requesting service sector liberalisation across the full range of internationally traded services sectors, including construction and related engineering, financial services and professional business and distribution services, to name but a few. New commitments by all WTO members in services areas would help open up foreign markets for Irish and other EU service providers and expand services employment. Moreover, improved WTO services disciplines might also benefit Irish consumers by increasing the level of competition in the provision of professional and other types of services in the domestic Irish market without compromising other valid public policy objectives such as consumer protection, prudential regulation and universal provision.

I emphasise, however, that it is not the intention of the EU, nor has the EU submitted in the context of the current negotiations requests to other WTO members, to seek market opening commitments on public services such as in the areas of health and education. We are not seeking to undermine the pursuit by WTO member countries of legitimate public policy objectives. Ireland fully supports this approach.

The successful delivery of the development dimension of the Doha agenda is also extremely important to Ireland and EU member states. There are several areas on which Hong Kong must deliver. Apart from the benefits to be achieved by developing countries which will flow from the conclusion of successful negotiations in the core areas of the Doha Round, a package of measures also needs to be concluded. This substantive package of measures should include duty free and quota free market access for the least developed countries; levels of market access commitments by developing countries linked to their level of development; a package of agreement specific proposals for special and differential treatment and implementation issues; and measures to strengthen trade related assistance.

My colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for development co-operation and human rights, Deputy Conor Lenihan, will also make a statement to the House on the development aspects of the DDA negotiations and how these might be best delivered.

I wish to make special mention of one particular aspect of the DDA negotiations related to the delivery of the development dimension. The world's poorest countries have not always been able to benefit fully from the trade opportunities offered by the multilateral trading system. A key conclusion drawn by the EU from the period of reflection following the failure at Cancún was that a more serious focus should be placed on finding solutions to the problems experienced by the most vulnerable members of the WTO. These include least developed countries, small economies, land-locked developing countries and any others particularly vulnerable to economic shocks, with particularly weak economies or infrastructure, or which remain highly dependent on preferential access and revenues from tariffs. These members are in the greatest need of flexibility in the application of WTO rules, of development aid to remedy supply side weaknesses and of measures to improve their access to markets.

Current proposals from the EU across the core areas of agriculture, goods and services market access seek to reflect this strategic approach of differentiation, which I commend. Such an approach, apart from its inherent value, could, for example, mitigate the negative impact on poorer countries of the loss of preferences on exports to developed countries, such as those of the EU. Developing countries could offer these poorer countries a level of duty free and quota free access, along the lines of the EU's generalised system of preferences, commensurate with their level of development and in this way enhance south-south trade.

I outlined some of the key areas of interest and issues of importance to Ireland of success in the DDA negotiations to the House. Ireland's priority in these negotiations has been and is to see the process of trade liberalisation continue in a fair and balanced way and to support the strengthening of the World Trade Organisation in its provision of a stable and consistent framework for the regulation of world trade. Central to our approach, and that of the European Union, is a commitment to respond positively in the negotiations to the concerns and ambitions of the developing world. This is an essential part of the Doha agenda.

Overall, Ireland, along with our EU partners, is of the view that maintaining a strong World Trade Organisation is of fundamental importance to meet the economic and trade challenges ahead. The policy approach going into Hong Kong should not and will not change. In the absence of agreeing on full modalities in Hong Kong, it is expected that Ministers will take stock of the progress in the DDA negotiations since the July 2004 framework agreement and set the scene for the resumption of an intensive follow-up phase of negotiations early in 2006 with a view to concluding the round as soon as possible thereafter.

Ireland's approach to Hong Kong, as with other EU member states, is based on three principles. First, we want to make as much progress as possible across the core areas of the negotiations without locking in any imbalances that may currently exist. All areas of the DDA must display a similar level of progress and a degree of specificity. To that end we must maintain the momentum with WTO partners. Second, the EU must preserve the overall level of ambition for the final outcome of the Doha round, including realisable gains for the EU in agriculture, industrial tariffs and services. Third, we must preserve and project the development objectives of the round by agreeing a development package at Hong Kong.

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