James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the context of the tariffs, I raise what we are doing here in Ireland and what we can control. So much of what is going on in the United States, no matter what Ireland says and no matter what Minister we dispatch to Washington, is not going to be able to reverse what the Trump White House intends to do. I was there a few weeks ago, and it was interesting. The Acting Chair was there and we got to see him in the flesh. They are very intent on what they are doing. Whether their ambition is to devalue the dollar or any number of other initiatives, it is going to do enormous harm.

I want to swing the conversation towards what is within our control. I am delighted to see the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Deputy Burke, is in the House. I also recognise the appointment of the Minister, Deputy Lawless, in the higher education and the innovation space. I would like to see the Government pursing what is in our new programme for Government regarding having a world-class entrepreneurship centre and hub in Ireland to harvest what we have on our own shores. There are several examples from Estonia, on what is being done in Scotland in the UK and on what is going on in relation to the French world-leading policy with STATION F. I have spoken with the Minister, Deputy Burke, on this. It is not about replicating what those countries are doing but it is about what Ireland can bring to the table and do it in our own way.

We are probably one of the most successful countries in the world at attracting in FDI. We also have a highly skilled young workforce who are committed to Ireland's future when it comes to development, entrepreneurship and innovation. I know so many young people of my own age - I am only 27 - and I see what they are doing and how committed they are but some of them leave. They go to San Francisco, to Paris and to other parts of the world when we could be doing it right here, only up the road in the IFSC and in other locations in the country where some extraordinarily exciting innovation is happening.

The Minister, Deputy Burke, is a young man at Cabinet and I can say with some confidence that he sees this opportunity. I have huge confidence in his ability to work on a cross-party basis to try to deliver our collective part for us. As backbench TDs, we are looking forward later today to presenting to our parliamentary party and to the Taoiseach on delivering an internationally visible statement of Ireland's commitment to innovation in the area of entrepreneurship.

It is something we must try to do more of to ensure Ireland, as a small country, does everything it can domestically to drive entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation on our shores, irrespective of the tariffs the United States is putting on the European Union.

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