Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is clear that the big hope is that there will be a negotiation pathway open. It is interesting to see the EU already saying it had previously offered to remove all tariff barriers on industrial goods and to buy more LNG from the US, but those offers were met by what was really a non-response from the US. There is a question about the extent to which there will be a response from the US. Clearly, Trump is looking for major concessions but even with those concessions it is not clear that there will be any move. Therefore, it is important for those here who are desperately worried about the potential impact down the line on their jobs, livelihoods, businesses and farms that there is some indication that the Government is now considering the measures being put in place to offer supports. We have seen other schemes in other European countries that can be adapted for particular sectors that are at risk. On Friday, however, the Taoiseach refused to endorse a short-term work scheme. The Minister for Finance spoke in similarly negative terms on Sunday. I think the Tánaiste was a little more open to the prospect of such a scheme more recently. We need to hear from the Government that it is at least considering the prospect of that sort of scheme to support people staying in their jobs and to help to keep businesses afloat.

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