Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

As I rise to speak on this motion today, I want to thank the Aontú team behind the scenes, who put so much work into this motion, our leader, Deputy Peadar Tóibín, and Senator Sarah O'Reilly. It is an historic day, in that we have moved our first Private Members' motion in the Dáil this morning.

The issue of tariffs is one of the number one concerns to the public at the moment. The actions of the US Administration are unprecedented and could have huge ramifications for the global economy but particularly for Ireland. Given our unique economy, we have the tendency by Fine Gael governments to rely too heavily on foreign direct investment, to the neglect of our own indigenous industry here.

In fairness to my leader, Deputy Peadar Tóibín, and before I was ever elected to the Dáil, he was warning about this day for many years. Whenever a budget surplus would come, I always remember Deputy Peadar Tóibín highlighting the over-reliance on FDI. Whenever Government politicians danced with joy, Aontú was drilling into the detail and highlighting how over-reliant we were on corporation taxes.

The people of the west of Ireland where I come from are deeply concerned about what is happening at present with regard to tariffs. The medtech sector employs 15,000 people in Galway in companies such as Boston Scientific and Medtronic. In Mayo, 2,500 people are employed by medtech companies such as Baxter healthcare in Castlebar. If you are a factory worker, it is not nice waking up to the realisation there is such uncertainty about your future. This crisis needs to be taken seriously by the Government, similar to how we dealt with Covid and the Brexit negotiations. Our voice in the EU needs to be heard loudly and clearly. We need to be centre stage in these negotiations. Ireland is a small country but we have considerable clout in the EU and the USA. My colleague Deputy O'Donoghue spoke about the sheer size of the Irish-American population. We also know that US politicians regularly rely on the Irish vote to get them elected. We need to remind them of that. Ireland occupies a unique space in the political system in the United States and it is very important that we highlight this to the US Administration.

In terms of the EU, obviously this country has a seat on the Commission. Michael McGrath should come before the House to outline the efforts he is undertaking in the teeth of this crisis. We in Aontú are deeply uncomfortable with the idea of retaliation. The idea that we will hit back with tariffs on the USA higher than those it is imposing on us is, to me, the worst possible decision. Does the Minister of State not fear it will simply result in Trump going higher on his tariffs? The actions of the EU will result in escalation rather than de-escalation. We need to take an active role in these negotiations in conjunction with the EU. We can no longer be a bystander. It is very interesting listening to Ministers because we appear like bystanders in these negotiations. We need to ensure we play a crucial and important part in these negotiations.

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