Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

One of the implications of all of this that is probably less well understood is the fact that Ireland is the ninth-largest foreign direct investor in the US economy and that Irish firms are responsible for a substantial number of good jobs in the US. Of course, President Trump is nothing if not unpredictable. We were expecting some form of white smoke from the White House this week as to what any potential tariffs may look like. Obviously, Ireland is especially exposed. On that basis, obviously, much of the responsibility in dealing with tariffs would be an all-of-government responsibility. The Minister for enterprise, Deputy Peter Burke, will have a lead role, as will the Tánaiste and Minister for trade, Deputy Harris. From the Minister, Deputy Donohoe's, own point of view, however, does he accept - and this is a long-standing issue about which we have been told time and again - that we need to broaden our tax base to try, insofar as we can, insulate our own public finances from the threats that will potentially arise?

See this speech in context