Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are rightly proud of the Irish goods and services that are traded across the world and of our indigenous companies and entrepreneurs who have taken risks and successfully navigated world markets. I recognise the immense contribution to the national economy of our export trade and the role that FDI has played and the truth is that in this time of global political and economic uncertainty and volatility in our trading partners, significant threats are becoming apparent in many sectors.

I am concerned at the trade tariffs that President Trump has indicated he will impose on the pharmaceutical industry, technology, software companies and Irish products such as whiskey and the impact that these could have for companies based in Ireland and for their workers. Drinks Ireland has estimated the current value of Irish drinks exports to the US at more than €800 million per year. Over half of this is made up of whiskey exports. The imposition of a 200% tariff would spell ruin for the small whiskey distilleries that have blossomed in the past number of years, many of them providing valuable employment in rural areas. Business is vital to my own local economy, for instance, the Achill Island Distillery and the Connacht Distillery in Ballina. Senator Conor Murphy and I continue to meet with industry stakeholders regarding the likely impact of these proposed tariffs on decision-making in their global businesses and it is important that we have a unity of purpose across this House in tackling the threats that are there at this time. What is clear is that the climate of uncertainty is challenging and that Government policy must reflect the perilous situation we are in.

The Department of enterprise will be monitoring developments but investment decisions in infrastructure must be ramped up to improve our competitiveness and to ensure that jobs are protected. Funding for export development programmes must be escalated. The situation in Ireland is further complicated by the British jurisdiction over part of our island. In the event of counter-tariffs being imposed by the EU and differing arrangements between the US and Britain, we could have a situation where businesses in the same sector are disadvantaged because of what side of the Border they happen to be on. Potential tariffs coupled with currency fluctuations brought about by two currencies operating in our small island will most harshly hit businesses along the Border area. We have seen on many occasions the micro-cycles of boom and bust in the Border region where neighbouring towns are pitted against each other depending on where the currency advantage exists. This is most unfair and it makes it even more difficult to navigate this business space. I urge the Minister to work with his counterpart in the Executive, Dr. Caoimhe Archibald, to consider hosting an all-island summit to meet with the business sectors to hear their views on these impending tariffs and the possible mitigations which need to be put in place.

More broadly, and in addition to dealing with this current crisis, this is a time to increase investment in our domestic economy, which accounts for 90% of the employment in the State. The truth is our indigenous businesses have not received the necessary supports and attention they deserve nor have our start-ups been facilitated and supported to scale up in the way that they need to do. Now is the time to change this. Supply chains to multinational companies need to be developed and cultivated across the island and within the EU so the economy can withstand global external shocks. Sinn Féin believes that establishing a new enterprise agency, Mol Gnó, which could provide financial support and expertise to non-export based start-ups and established companies, could be a game-changer for our home-based businesses as well.

I also draw the Minister's attention to the current unbalanced economic development that the Government has presided over, which has resulted in the EU regional competitiveness index ranking the east and midland region, 24th, the southern region, 19th, and the north-western region, 113th, out of 234 EU regions. This must be urgently addressed by Government, particularly in the western region, which is now classed as a lagging region. Ireland West Airport Knock strategic development zone, the western rail corridor, roads, water, renewable energy and telecommunications are critical to our competitiveness and sustainable growth.

Ireland failed to enact the necessary legislation to transpose the EU network and information security directive by the deadline of 19 October 2024. The first draft of the general scheme for the national cybersecurity Bill has been published and it has been listed in the Government's legislative programme for spring 2025. I welcome this but it is taking too long. We need to work together to address all of these issues.

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