Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Tomorrow, Donald Trump will take a wrecking ball to the world economy. His goal is clear and unambiguous, that being, to cause maximum damage. Yesterday, Trump said his tariffs would make his country go boom, which brought to mind the Hindenburg disaster because, as far as plans go, tariffs are up there with filling an airship with flammable gas. Tariffs are toxic to trade and economic growth and America will not be immune from this poison, which is why fears of a recession in the United States are growing.

We are through the looking glass when it comes to the Trump Administration. Appeals to reason and logic are doomed to failure. As a small open economy, the threat to us is particularly serious. This is clear from the modelling that has been done. In the worst case scenario, up to 80,000 jobs could be lost or not created. Pharmaceutical exports to the US could halve.

As the world's largest trading bloc, the EU will have to respond to this unprovoked aggression, but it is crucial that any response is well-thought-out and measured. It is essential that our voices and national interests are represented in any EU retaliation.

As the Taoiseach will know, trade is an EU competency, but there is much that we can do domestically to prepare for this onslaught. In the short term, emergency supports may need to be put in place for impacted sectors. Allied with this, we should be turbocharging investment in critical infrastructure. We need to invest in energy, transport and water infrastructure to reduce costs for businesses and households. We need to invest in affordable housing to support our continued economic development.

We have no control over what will be announced tomorrow but we must use every lever we have here and at an EU level to mitigate the damage. What is the Taoiseach's position on tit-for-tat tariffs at an EU level? Will he outline any EU supports that will be made available for impacted sectors? The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund was initially set up to help workers who lost out on jobs due to globalisation.

Will the Taoiseach advocate for this fund to be repurposed to help workers impacted by these tariffs? What preparation is being done to introduce emergency domestic supports for impacted sectors and how does the Taoiseach intend to communicate these?

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