Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to speak on this matter, especially in the context of my role as the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for new markets and food promotion. Ireland and the US have a significant and mutually beneficial economic relationship. Within this context, the US is a key market for the Irish agrifood trade. It is our second largest market after the UK, with exports valued at almost €2 billion last year. Our dairy and spirit drinks sectors, which together account for 80% of that figure of €2 billion in exports, are especially concerned at the introduction of the 20% tariff on their exports to the US. The US is an important market for Irish dairy exports, especially butter. It is the key export market for Irish whiskey and a significant user of Irish grain and Irish cream liqueur, of which milk is a major ingredient.

Regarding imports from the US, there are concerns that the US tariff approach may ultimately result in increased costs for certain categories of animal feed. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy Martin Heydon, is leading a trade mission to the US this week. He is travelling to Washington DC, Kentucky and Chicago. Yesterday, he had a good meeting with his counterpart, the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins. I compliment the Minister because he has had serious meetings in Congress and with various leaders in the Republican and Democratic parties, which I think is crucially important. He will meet with US Government officials, state legislators, US business leaders and representatives of Irish companies with a significant footprint in the US economy. The Minister will discuss the direct benefits Irish food and drink companies are bringing to the US economy in terms of jobs and local inputs, which is to the benefit of US farmers and businesses. The trade mission and its follow-up will be a timely opportunity for Bord Bia and its client companies to have direct engagement with key US customers.

In relation to Northern Ireland, the agrifood sector has well-functioning and deeply integrated all-Ireland supply chains.

The Government will work closely with industry to ensure these linkages are not disrupted by the uncertainty created by the US announcements. The US tariffs, as announced, will have significant direct and indirect effects on the Irish food and drink sector and on the wider sector in the EU but every American family will also feel the effect of these tariffs in higher prices every time they go to the grocery store. I hope the US will soon come to the table for meaningful negotiations with the EU to avoid unnecessary damage to both our economies. Even today, within my Department, there was a high-level meeting between An Bord Bia, senior officials from the Department and a large company of food stakeholders who were meeting to see can look for new markets which is crucially important.

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