Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)

I return to the issue of vulnerabilities. It may be the case that the issue of new tariffs has come onto the table since the election of President Trump for the second time. It has returned to the agenda. Sinn Féin and others in the Opposition have made the case for many years that, even aside from tariffs, Ireland is vulnerable to a change in the economic climate because of the economic model we have. It has failed to diversify into new markets, and we are now talking about different trade agreements. The EU already has many free trade agreements in areas where we have a limited economic profile, including south-east Asia, southern Africa and South America. There are areas where there is huge potential for further growth. There is also our failure to build up our indigenous economy and to properly support that. Our businesses domestically have some of the highest energy costs in Europe. From small to medium to big businesses, it is a huge drag on their potential to grow and to expand into potential new markets.

I have two particular questions. I will mention one market. While it is one of our traditional markets, an important question for Britain is the potential for an SPS agreement. Does the Minister of State have an update on that? More particularly, on the US, I understand the Tánaiste was due to meet the US ambassador yesterday. What was the outcome of those discussions? Is there any further update from those discussions on the US Administration's position? I understand also that the technical team, led by Maroš Šefčovič, was in Washington this week for a potential meeting with Secretary Lutnick, but certainly with senior officials in the US departments. Is it possible to get an update on the outcome of that meeting that has been relayed to the Irish Government?

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