Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like other speakers, I congratulate the Tánaiste as well as the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, on their reappointments. I wish them the best of luck in their portfolios. Trade deals and foreign direct investment are vital for a small exporting country like ourselves. I was sitting in my office listening to the debate. Listening to some of the comments of the Deputies who oppose Deputy Collins's motion, to call them naive would probably be very kind. We need trade deals and foreign direct investment. As has been referred to, our corporation tax is vital to this country in attracting that foreign direct investment. It is under constant threat. The Trump Administration in the States and some of our European colleagues would like to undermine it and undercut it. It is essential we keep that corporation tax attractive to multinationals investing in our country. The huge challenge that Brexit is going to pose to us increases the need for us to do trade deals with other countries around the world. It increases the need for TTIP, CETA and the benefits this economy can accrue from them.

EU standards on food, health, environment and social and labour standards cannot be compromised, however. European food producers have to produce to an extremely high standard. The European consumer demands that and is entitled to it. The production of food at such a high standard comes at a cost. We cannot be put at an unfair advantage to other producers around the world. For a generation, we have been highlighting the difference between beef production in the EU and in South America, where there is hormone treated beef. Our beef is produced hormone free and with the strict use of antibiotics. Those standards have to be maintained. It is essential in any trade deal that those are ring-fenced.

TTIP has great potential. It has the potential to create 10,000 jobs in this country and to increase exports by up to 4%. It is stalled at the moment, but it is to be hoped it can be got going in the future. On the agrifood side of things, there are huge benefits for the country in CETA. It would give 95% of our agrifood exports tariff-free access to the Canadian market. I will give a few statistics. At the moment, the Canadians and Americans have a tariff-free quota for 11,500 tonnes of top quality beef cuts into the EU. They are only using 3% of that quota. The consumption of Canadian beef in the EU is at 0.6%. This is an opportunity we can exploit going forward. The opportunities for dairying are immense. Post-quota production is rising rapidly in this country. Ornua is developing markets in the United States. CETA will allow it to do the same in Canada. If we are to get a reasonable price for our dairy products going forward, markets like this are going to be vital for us. I welcome the firm commitment from the European Commission and the 27 member states that EU standards are not up for negotiation and will be maintained, come what may.

A significant number of our young people have emigrated to Canada in recent years. Thankfully, two thirds of them have third level degrees. Annually, Canada issues 10,000 international experience visas. It just shows many of our young people are choosing Canada as a destination. We have a very strong trade relationship with Canada worth €2.75 billion per annum. It has increased by 250% in the past five years. For SMEs and for all industry in this country, this trade deal has great opportunities.

Before I conclude, I want to get parochial. Deputy Mattie McGrath spoke about what FDI has brought to Tipperary. Unfortunately, it has been localised in just one town. In the past four years, there have been only eight FDI visits to Tipperary with virtually no investment. North, mid and west Tipperary has been completely deprived of any foreign direct investment. Unfortunately, our towns are showing the signs of it. We have a site in Lisheen Mines that has the infrastructure and has huge potential. I implore the IDA to look at that site. It has massive potential and would be an ideal hub for development in Tipperary. It is something we badly need. It would restore our faith in the IDA's ability to create jobs.

See this speech in context