Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this. Just to add to his point, the greatest challenge of all to the livelihoods of those he is raising today is if the changes that happened last night become bigger and permanent and if they fundamentally change how our global economy works. In order to see if we can avoid that happening, we need to have negotiation and engagement with the US, as the Deputy has acknowledged along with many other Deputies today. It is difficult to see how we get to that happening unless the European Union, including us, indicates that we are willing to respond and take action. With regard to the cause of any long-term harm that we could face or the economy of Europe could face, the first instigator of that has been what has happened in the US, not measures that we may have to very regretfully consider here in Ireland and Europe. In the absence of those measures that have been announced by President Trump, as the Deputy well knows and as he inferred in the point he put to me, we would not even be considering actions that the EU needs to take with regard to trade.

To answer the question he put to me regarding my engagement, on Friday of next week there will be a meeting of all finance Ministers of the European Union in Warsaw. In advance of that meeting, beginning, I hope, tomorrow, I will be talking to my colleagues about the issues the Deputy raised. On Monday, the Tánaiste will be meeting trade Ministers of the EU. I know the Taoiseach has engaged with the Commission on this and will be doing so with other Heads of Government. That is all under way. It has begun and will only intensify in the days and weeks that await all of us.

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