Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last week, An Taoiseach, in line with his elected mandate, admirably represented all of us in Ireland when he met President Trump, as did the Tánaiste in Philadelphia and New York. However, the future of Irish-US trade remains under a cloud. The threat of a spiralling transatlantic trade war is the latest in a series of significant challenges to global trade and supply chains. That is why the people voted for this Government - to bring solutions and stability when those dark clouds are looming. I hope that all parties and none in this House recognise the need to work together constructively, as they did the majority of times through Brexit, to protect economic stability, jobs and livelihoods.

I know that the Tánaiste will do everything in his power to protect Ireland, the EU and the US from tariffs. With that in mind, I will speak about maximising other opportunities for trade, as he did just this week with the Indian foreign minister. I will focus on opportunities closer to home. In response to a more uncertain international environment, many companies around the world have embarked on reshoring, or friend-shoring, which means bringing supply chains and their sources back to or nearer to home. The same can apply to exports. In a world where the prospect of future tariffs is threatening confidence, many companies are looking for opportunities to grow exports to more secure trading partners. Last year, the US was a massive destination for Irish exports, valued at €72 billion, which must be protected, but the EU and Great Britain comprised an even bigger market, valued at more than €103 billion. It is a good time to ask whether we are doing enough to leverage the opportunity of tariff-free trade to the Single Market and the UK under the terms of the TCA.

Whatever President Trump does with respect to Ireland-US trade, he cannot dent the fact that Ireland is favourable for US multinationals seeking to access the EU market, with a population that is a third larger than the US. Exporting to our Single Market should also be a no-brainer for Irish indigenous enterprise, especially SMEs. According to CSO data, the 97% of all firms in Ireland exporting to the UK are SMEs. However, research by Rockwood and Amárach has found that 34% of Irish SMEs have identified the need to further reduce customs requirements for exports to Great Britain as one of their top three asks of the Government.

Now is the time to look more to the EU and UK. Let us mandate our export promotion agencies to focus on maximising Irish export opportunities to the EU and UK. Let us more actively support our SMEs to get into those markets. We do a great job, but this can be enhanced. Let us run more trade missions to the EU and the UK. Let us give them the dominance and status of the current predominance of missions to further-flung markets, such as the US and Asia. Let us make the most of our reset relationship with the UK and its new Prime Minister to try to tackle costs, delays and barriers impacting transit and customs, and to champion initiatives, such as the EU-UK veterinary agreement.

Ireland has shown itself to be an economic success story in the face of global challenges. The Tánaiste has taken on the role of continuing that success. My point today is that we of course have to protect what we have with the US, but let us also maximise relationships closer to home. Let us increase the status of our Irish brands, sectors and SMEs across Europe and the UK.

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