Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy knows, US foreign direct investment is important in Ireland. Some 70% of FDI comes from the US. That is how important it is and we value all the US investment we have in this country because in the region of 150,000 people are employed as a result of it.

On the Taoiseach's meeting with President Trump, as the Deputy knows, the meeting was quite short but my understanding from my officials is that the issue was raised but they obviously did not go into it comprehensively. The Deputy will remember back to 2008 when the threat to Dell jobs was evident in Limerick. Both the Deputy and the then Minister, former Deputy Mary Coughlan, travelled to Texas to see what they could do about this. This is a totally different situation because it affects nearly 15,000 employees of Analog Devices worldwide and it is important to point that out.

I refer to trade wars and the Deputy will agree with me on this. All trade wars are settled in the end. It is in the interests of the US and of China to address any concerns they have. We have seen this before with Aughinish Alumina in Limerick as the Deputy knows. It was because of that special relationship we had with the US that we were able to lift the sanctions on Mr. Deripaska. That may have been a different situation to Analog Devices, however. This is an IDA Ireland company, it is a flagship company and it makes the chip devices for Huawei, as it does for other companies. President Trump signed this executive order on 15 May, as the Deputy knows.

I reassure the Deputy that as a Minister of State in the area, I am concerned about developments such as this, as is the Government. Matters that happen on the geopolitical stage affect every country, big or small. It will affect the European Union and it will affect the whole global stage. Much of that is outside our control but that relationship we have with the US will stand to us should a disaster happen. I do not believe it will, however. This is a short-term measure and we have to look at it as such. If the situation deteriorates then it will be a different matter but at the moment I assure the Deputy that everything is being done by IDA Ireland to ensure the viability of this company moving forward.

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