Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I begin by paying tribute to Mick O'Dwyer. It is with tremendous sadness that we learnt of the passing of one of Ireland's greatest GAA icons. His contribution to Irish sport and community life was extraordinary, particularly in his native county of Kerry, although we do like to claim a bit of him with the great joy he brought us in Wicklow and many other counties. I think of him and his family on his passing, and all of the GAA family as well. May he rest in peace.

I thank Deputy Doherty for the range of questions he posed. I agree with him that tariffs are bad. They are bad for Ireland, bad for Europe, bad for the US economy, bad for consumers, bad for growth and bad for jobs. The actions of the US President last night are deeply regrettable. It seemed clear, particularly in recent days, that President Trump was determined to have this moment - what I describe as a moment of chaos - in terms of the announcement of tariffs. This the biggest change in terms of trading approaches in probably a century. He has had that moment, and what now needs to happen is negotiation. If I am to try to find some glimmer of hope in a very dark and grim situation, it is that there were references to negotiation by the US President, the US Secretary of Commerce, with whom I spoke last week, and the US Secretary of the Treasury and in the executive orders signed by the US President. That is what needs to happen. There needs to be calm, measured and strategic consideration. This is the approach Ireland will take.

The Deputy asked a very direct question about counter-tariffs. I think he will agree that this was not the EU's idea. It was not Ireland's idea. We do not want to get into an escalatory tariff situation. I share that view. However, we have already had three hits by the US in this regard. We had an impact to the tune of €25 billion to €26 billion as a result of US measures relating steel and aluminium. There has also been an impact amounting to around €75 billion in terms of the decisions the US made regarding cars. The latter will have an affect on the prices that people across Europe will pay for cars. We do not yet have the quantity involved, but the impact of the announcements last night will probably amount to hundreds of billions. At some point, the EU, which has shown significant restraint, is going to have to say "Well, hang on a second, if you're not willing to negotiate and get round the table, there is going to have to be a response". The comments by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, earlier were balanced and restrained. The message is very clear - we want to talk, negotiate and find a way forward. The question is whether the US is willing to do that. The coming days will show that. The meeting of trade ministers in Luxembourg, which I will attend on Monday, will be an opportunity for the 27 member states of the EU to come together.

We will be carrying out early assessments of impact. Some of this has already happened. I have convened a meeting of the Government's trade forum for tomorrow. This involves business representative bodies and it will provide an opportunity to take stock.

On competitiveness and controlling what we can control, I have asked the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, to bring forward proposals to the Cabinet committee on the economy, which I chair, next Thursday in terms of what we can accelerate in the programme for Government around our economy, competitiveness and productivity.

In the context of party leaders and briefings, I have provided briefings. Deputy Doherty attended such a briefing on behalf of his party last week. I would be very happy to do that again tomorrow. In the context of whether there is a need for other forums or structures, we have to have a free flow of information. I am very clear on that. I want to do that and am very happy to make all information available so we can have informed debate, discussion and decisions.

Regarding the all-island economy, I came off a call ten minutes ago with the Deputy's colleague the Minister for the Economy in Northern Ireland, Caoimhe Archibald. I acknowledge the good job she is doing in trying to work her way through this. We met yesterday with the deputy First Minister and the Minister Archibald via video conference. We agreed to keep in very close contact because a differential is likely to exist from 9 April next.

The Deputy asked about non-tariff measures, which I think is the anti-coercion instrument. My view is that this would be the nuclear option and that we should seek to de-escalate rather than arrive at that destination.

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