Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Ireland is the most exposed country in the European Union to the US tariff war. Ireland exports more than any other country in Europe to America. Last year, Ireland exported €72 billion worth of goods to the US. Some €58 billion worth of those were pharmaceutical products. President Trump has explicitly stated that he wants to see the pharma industry back in the US. It is very unclear what influence this Government has in terms of negotiating through the European Union in this regard.

A prime example of that is the retaliatory tariffs the EU has imposed on bourbon. This effectively put the Irish whiskey industry directly in the firing line. The latter is a growing industry. Some 40% of the whiskey exported from this country goes to the US. What influence do we have and what have we done outside of the recent ten-minute meeting in the Oval Office? What have we done with our European counterparts to mitigate and alleviate some of the economic headwinds that are coming our way?

The truth is that the European Union will do what is best for Germany, Italy and France in relation to this. The Minister can shake his head, but the bourbon tariff was a good example of that. We need to play a key and active role in terms of influencing what decisions are made in this regard.

FDI is a good thing. It has been really positive for this country, but successive Governments have placed all our eggs in one FDI basket. We have forgotten about small indigenous businesses throughout the country. We need to focus on small- and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurship within the country and support that sector. In my constituency, the centres of so many towns in Mayo have been left derelict as a result of businesses closing. We need to support businesses and ensure they can survive. There are significant costs involve in running a small business. Rates are very high and businesses get nothing in return for them. There are also insurance costs and many other costs.

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