John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 104: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps he is taking to strengthen Ireland's level of representation in the US Federal Government and on Capitol Hill in order to safeguard Ireland's strategic national economic interests, with the upcoming inauguration of a new US president. [38476/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The relationship between Ireland and the United States is deep, close and enduring. Successive presidents and their administrations, and Ireland's many friends on Capitol Hill from both sides of the aisle, have made an enormous contribution to bringing peace and economic prosperity to this island. These efforts have been greatly assisted by the distinguished individuals who have served as the President's Special Envoy on Northern Ireland, including the current esteemed incumbent Paula Dobriansky.

Following yesterday's election I congratulate President-elect Barack Obama on his victory. I look forward to working with the new President and his Administration in the years ahead to underpin and deepen further the economic, cultural and social relations between the United States and Ireland. President-elect Barack Obama and Senator John McCain have both underlined during the campaign their continuing commitment to maintaining and developing relations between our two countries. Likewise, I will continue to work closely with the bi-partisan Friends of Ireland in Congress, chaired by Congressman Richard Neal.

This close co-operation is underpinned by the network of relations with members of Congress and their staff maintained by the embassy in Washington. The ambassador and his colleagues attach the highest priority to their work in this area and, following yesterday's US elections, will be active in ensuring that Ireland's interests continue to be effectively advanced with the new Administration and Congress. In this regard, the level of staffing in our missions in the United States and our honorary consul system is kept under ongoing review.

Aware of the need to constantly update the relationship and recognising the changing circumstances on both sides of the Atlantic, our ambassador in Washington has been asked by the Taoiseach to lead a strategic review of Ireland-US relations and to report on this by the end of the year. The review is intended to facilitate the further development of this important relationship and to explore how our already close ties might be further enhanced into the future. Considerable work on the review has already taken place and our ambassador in Washington has invited organisations and individuals across the United States to contribute their views.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I tabled this question in the expectation that Senator Obama would win yesterday and he did. I listened to the US Ambassador's interview on "Morning Ireland" this morning and he made an interesting comment. He said what somebody said on a campaign trail and what he or she did on being elected were two different things. I am not sure this will be the case with President-elect Obama. There is a danger he might follow through on what said on the campaign trail. That is a concept that is quite alien to the Fianna Fáil.

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

And its manifesto.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I challenge the Deputy on that.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

America is facing a $400 or $500 billion deficit this year. It has a choice between increasing personal taxation or pursing what President-elect Obama talked about, namely, ending tax breaks for US companies that invest and create jobs overseas. I have nothing but regard for Ambassador Collins, as the Minister will be aware. I worked with him many years ago on legislation in Washington. However, I am not sure that we have the capabilities to prevent the passing of tax legislation that would injure our vital economic interests in this country.

The Minister, in his response to Deputy Timmins, mentioned the word "over-reaction". There is no over-reaction here. There is a stark realisation that we have become uncompetitive and anything that affects US companies doing business here will have a drastic impact on our economy. I am glad the Minister said that there will be a strategic review by the ambassador. That needs to happen. We need to review our capability on Capitol Hill in particular and the way we lobby in Congress.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I wish to make it clear that I take seriously the campaign platforms of both President-elect Obama and the defeated candidate Senator John McCain. We have analysed them, we are mindful of them and will not ignore them. There are up to 474 US companies in Ireland employing approximately 95,000 people.

I do not wish to digress but there has been a significant assault on the public service generally in recent times. We have 29 staff in the US. If one considers the extent of American investment in Ireland and the number of Irish companies that wish to trade and engage with the US, that represents an extraordinary performance by those staff.

The Deputy's question raises the issue of deployment and securing value for money. We will work with our contacts on Capitol Hill. If there are other ways of adding to that effort at parliamentary level or otherwise, we are open to suggestions. We are keen to do all we can in that respect. The changes that will be required will also involve legislative changes. There would be an element of congress involved in this. We have established contacts and we will continue to do that. Ultimately, I argue that what will determine American's fundamental self-interest will be the key issue here. It will be the making of intelligent arguments, which corporate America will make in terms of what is the best interest of America of US multinationals. They need a presence in markets across the globe. They also need to access the brains of the world in other locations and so on. They need to see how that adds to their global profitability.

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

A few years ago Bord Bia had only one member of its organisation based in the United States, which I thought was outrageous. The Minister mentioned there are only 29 staff in the US. Am I correct on that?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

That is what I said.

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

That is 29 staff.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In my Department.

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Minister has 1,500 or 1,600 staff in the Department of Foreign Affairs and he should reappraise how they are allocated. In view of the connections and the volume of trade between the two countries, the staff in the US should be strengthened.

I acknowledge this point is not directly related, but with the new regime we should push to deal with the difficulty of the undocumented Irish. There is a window of opportunity to do that, particularly based on the percentage and breakdown of the vote for President-elect Obama. He got a great number of votes from members of the Hispanic community. Perhaps more compassion would be shown on this issue and we could benefit from that.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

On the economic side, IDA Ireland has significant bases in the US, but in relative terms, compared to some of our competitors it has nothing exorbitant in terms of numbers. Enterprise Ireland has a team in the US, as has the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia, the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. There is a broad spread of such personnel.

I am undertaking the review to which the Deputy alluded. We are reviewing how our resources are spread with a view to getting better value from them, with a very strong economic dimension in focus in terms of the changing world, where we should be and how to best use our human resources in that regard.