Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The main issue in the motion tabled by Fianna Fáil is trade deals, specifically CETA and TTIP. We have some difficulty in understanding why we are going down this road. I can only conclude it is because Fianna Fáil believes this will be the solution to the Irish economic problems. It is the wrong track to take. I think most people understand that we need trade. We are a small country with a small population and it is hard to have enough economic activity on the island of Ireland with the population it has to make it sustainable. However, we need to export. Having free trade deals is always a good thing but the difficulty we have, particularly with CETA and TTIP and these sets of negotiations that are coming about, is that they are not for the good of free trade, the small producer, the small manufacturer or the small processor in areas of rural Ireland or any other such places. They are for the good of massive corporations and multinational companies. That is generally the trend in which all of this is moving.

In fairness to Fianna Fáil, the motion sets out a lot about IDA Ireland and the good work it has done. IDA Ireland certainly has done excellent work and excellent work has been done in many sectors to develop our economy. However, IDA Ireland's work has not worked everywhere. That is a difficulty we have. In the part of the world from which I come, we have little or no IDA Ireland investment and little or no support for small to medium-sized industry. The big problem we have in the regions, outside of the east coast, is that we have such poor infrastructure. When we consider the issue of broadband, which comes up every time we have a discussion about the economy, jobs and so on, we see that in the vast majority of Ireland outside the capital, we have a poor level of connectivity. While various schemes have been introduced through the years, nothing has provided for improved connectivity.

The other issue that often comes to mind is that of road infrastructure. Many Deputies in this House have been lobbying on this issue, particularly regarding the roads into the west of Ireland such as the N4, N5 and others. Our roads infrastructure has been left without the kind of investment it requires to be able to attract businesses and people to come and develop industry there. I was recently speaking to representatives of a company who were thinking about locating in Ireland. I was trying to talk them into coming to the west, to Leitrim, but when they visited and looked at the area, the problem they had was not so much that it was far from the port but that it was such a time distance from the port. That was the issue they raised. They would be exporting their product across the water to Britain.

The issues are the roads infrastructure, broadband infrastructure, the development of our health and education services, and making Ireland an attractive place for people to come to live and work. All the talk about trade deals, this high wire act and the idea that we need to do all this are almost distractions from the real issues we must deal with, namely, investment. That investment must come into the communities up and down the length and breadth of the country where people's children are emigrating. That is what we need to see happen. Emigration is continuing right up until now.

Support for small Irish businesses is one of the big problems we have. We have some small success stories. I hope the Minister in the time ahead will be able to visit the Food Hub in Drumshanbo, County Leitrim, which has been a huge success story. It is seeking more funding to try to expand and grow the businesses there. They are small businesses whereby local people who develop ideas set out to develop those ideas. They have an infrastructure in place whereby they can do this and expand and grow their business. This is the kind of thing we need to do and replicate in many places around the country. We need to build hubs not just for the food industry, but also other industries. We can do this outside of the capital, outside of where the infrastructure is in place at present, provided we invest in it but the Government has a responsibility to invest in all of this.

The other issue to which I will revert briefly is the trade deals. Ireland signed up in 2015 to the sustainable development goals, which were put in place by the United Nations. These goals concerned climate change, human rights and everything else we want to ensure the world stands up to. One issue in this regard that has been raised several times is that many of these trade deals fly in the face of the sustainable development goals because the trade deals are for the good of the corporations, not the people, whether they be in Ireland or in developing countries around the world. Therefore, one of the conditions we should attach to any of these trade deals we have anywhere in the world, whether between the EU, between Ireland bilaterally or wherever, is that they should be measured against their impact on the sustainable development goals. There are 17 goals, dealing with all aspects of life on the planet. This would be a very good measure to see where we can go forward from here.

The other issue we must consider in this regard is Brexit and what it will do. My constituency encompasses Sligo, Leitrim, west Cavan and south Donegal. The boundary of my constituency runs from Belturbet in County Cavan around to Pettigo in Donegal. It forms almost a quarter of the entire Border. I believe that for many years, only three Border roads were open and there were checkpoints on all of them. The rest of them were closed and barricaded up. We do not want to go back to that situation again. It is internationally recognised that people who live in border corridors, whether in Ireland or anywhere else in the world, have the highest potential for disadvantage because of the closing of communities, the division of people. We have come a long distance but we are not very far away from where we were, and if we are to ensure we do not go back to that situation, we must ensure that Britain remains within the customs union. That must be the demand. We must ensure that the North of Ireland gets special designated status within the European Union. That must be the demand of this Government and of all parties in this House. In fairness, there was a motion passed here which was supported by everyone in this House to seek special designated status for the North. The majority of the people in the North voted to stay within the European Union and we should respect that vote. We need to be as strong as we possibly can on this because there is an opportunity, as an island, for Ireland to attract investment internationally. However, we can only do that if we are seen by the world as an attractive place in which to invest. One thing that would set us apart is if we were to bring about a situation whereby, on a stepping stone towards a united Ireland, we were to have the entire island remain within the European Union. That is the challenge that lies ahead of us, and that is the way we need to move forward.

Finally, I congratulate both Ministers on their appointments and wish them all the very best in the months and perhaps years ahead. We do not know how long it will be but, whatever time remains ahead, I assure them that we will all try to be constructive to try to make things happen for our communities. The jobs and enterprise brief is the one on which we can deliver for people, and we all need to work together to make sure we deliver on that.

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