James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the new Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, the Tánaiste, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald. I look forward to working with her. I also congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy John Halligan, on his reappointment and on the addition of research and development to his responsibilities. I look forward to working closely with him and know he understands the importance of the area.

As has been noted, Irish industrial policy owes a huge debt of gratitude to Seán Lemass, who began the outward-looking policy we enjoy to this day in terms of outreach and attracting inward, foreign direct investment. This has proved vital to our economic strategy and survival and is fundamental to the economy that we enjoy today. Ours is very much a knowledge economy, based upon a productive sector which is tied in closely with our education sector, leading to highly-skilled, highly-paid jobs for our graduates who have gone from success to success in a field. As my colleague, Deputy Collins, has outlined, we know the statistics. There are 300,000 people directly employed today in FDI-related jobs. For every ten of those direct jobs, there are estimated to be a further seven related jobs in the service industry. This is a huge pillar of our industrial policy and overall economy. It is absolutely vital that we maintain and support it.

We are all very well aware of the threat Brexit poses to the relationship with our largest trading partner across the water. We are also aware of the changing world order, with Britain setting out its stance and looking around the world to renew Commonwealth acquaintances and other types of deals. Whether they are at the front or the back of the queue, we need to be out there as well in terms of Irish positioning. Through CETA and TTIP, Europe is advancing those kinds of relationships and making sure those trade deals are open and intact and that Ireland has secured its place in any queue that is out there. We must ensure that we continue to do business. Indeed, with such a high percentage of our trade being with the USA, it is relatively more important that we should maintain that relationship.

In terms of the specifics, my own constituency of Kildare North has a number of FDI companies such as Intel, Hewlett Packard, Pfizer, Kerry and IBM. Nearby, Dublin city is also home to many multinationals. For the vast majority of my constituents, if they do not work locally they commute to work in multinationals in Dublin city. It is very much at the core of employment and the economy locally in my constituency and nationally. It is very important that we support the high end, value-added research and development area. This area is proven to have a multiplier effect in terms of the return on investment.

In respect of our embassy staff abroad, I am fortunate to have had dealings with some of them during my time here. They do an excellent job, but there are not enough of them. There are 80 diplomatic offices around the world managing 178 different countries, yet we only have 25 Enterprise Ireland and 20 IDA Ireland stations. We need to resource, grow and extend the staff available in order to grow our outreach around the world. I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, will share this view.

In terms of the Food and Drug Administration, this is something we could explore in respect of the pharmaceutical industry. Flipping the matter on its head, if we could invite an FDA outpost here it could be very attractive for pharmaceutical firms operating in Ireland, American firms in particular, to have drugs and foods authenticated and approved here rather than having to return to the mothership, as it were, to do so. It would be a very positive step.

Some concerns have been raised around CETA and TTIP. Some of the concerns are valid and Fianna Fáil shares them. In terms of the intercountry dispute mechanisms, it is a fact that there have always been courts of transnational jurisdiction. However, we certainly support those concerns and share them. We have expressed our view that any such provisions in these treaties will have to be mitigated and modified in order to gain our support. On the whole, the mechanism is vital for our economic strategy. We need to invest in it in terms of resources and continued support and success. It has worked. Let us keep it going and resource it further.

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