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

The response the Government will put in place has three different levels. First is the engagement we will have with the institutions of the European Union and other governments in the EU to look at what the response should be. We believe any response should be proportionate and needs to create the incentives and environment within which negotiation can take place. Second, through IDA Ireland, we will engage with companies that will be affected by what has happened. It is important to be open and to continue to be honest by saying that what we need to do now is to focus our efforts on how we can identify new markets. We must also look at how we can engage and support our companies in engaging with other trading partners with a view to increasing trade and investment. Third, as we take those two steps, we will have to examine whether there is an opportunity for us to engage with the United States of America through the EU in all this. I hope and believe such an opportunity will develop.

The measures put in place by President Trump will not only affect the economy of the world, they will also have a significant effect on the economy of America. The President of the European Commission has been very clear in outlining that we want to negotiate and see if we can find a scenario in which jobs and incomes are not further affected and the progress we have made with inflation will not be jeopardised. Those are the three different layers of our response, namely engagement with the EU, engagement with companies here in Ireland that are going to be affected and then, I hope, an opportunity for negotiation develop with the United States.

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