Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I was also truly shocked and saddened at the emerging news of 39 deaths in a container that may have passed through this country and that is certainly an issue to which we must revert as soon as we have more information.

In less than 48 hours, 820 good jobs have been lost in the south west between the 320 jobs at Novartis pharmaceutical company and 500 jobs at Molex electronic components company. This will leave workers and their families in a terrible situation coming up to Christmas. It will also have a significant knock-on effect on the local economies.

International trade is currently in a downturn due to increased protectionism and a move away from free trade. Locals have rightly asked the Government what it will do to support the workers now being unemployed. It will be a real test of the ability of the State and its agencies to react to major job losses. Unfortunately, there is still a risk of major job losses with an adverse Brexit. We will be looking closely at how the Government and its agencies cope with Novartis and Molex workers to see how successfully they will be assisted back to work and how problems in those regions can be addressed.

I want to ask the Taoiseach about the Government's analysis of the economy. The trade war between the United States and China is named as one of the factors that affected Molex, which has laid off workers around the world due to additional tariffs being imposed. It is extremely worrying that 820 job losses could come out of the blue, unknown to the IDA or the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation. Is this just unfortunate timing or are other jobs at risk right now? What research has been done by the Government to understand the effects of changes to international trade on jobs in Ireland? Can the Taoiseach assure other workers in similar jobs that their positions are stable?

There have been some estimates of job losses following a no-deal Brexit but does the Government have any estimate of job losses due to protectionism, the ongoing trade war and the higher tariffs being imposed on products made in this country? The World Trade Organization, WTO, permitted the US to impose €6.8 billion of tariffs on European goods at the beginning of this month. Food and drink products, including household names like Kerrygold and Baileys, now face a 25% tariff in the US. What analysis has the Government done about how this hostile trading environment will translate into potential job losses in this State and what is the Taoiseach going to do about it?

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