Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think the Deputy's assessment is correct. We are unlikely to be getting back to something like TTIP anytime soon. However, we are on a better path now with the USA. No matter what happens at EU level, Ireland will continue to seek investment from the US. It goes both ways now. Nearly 100,000 Americans are employed in Irish owned firms in America. That has been the big change in the past ten years.

It is very much a two-way relationship now in investment and trade. We fully endorsed the EU's approach to EU-US trade relations. That was set out in the new EU-US agenda for global change that involves stronger multilateral action and institutions, the pursuit of common interests and leveraging the collective strength of the Union and the US, and looking for solutions that respect the common values of fairness, openness and competition. We also proposed to the ambassador, Katherine Tai, that we should establish an EU-US trade technology council, and the ambassador has said she will give this consideration.

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