Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)

I am delighted to have the opportunity to update the Seanad on the trade promotion work of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. As the time available is short, if there are questions that are not reached, I can come back to them at a later stage if Senators require answers.

The promotion of Ireland's economic and trading interests overseas has always been a key focus of my Department, in co-operation with other relevant Departments and State agencies. Embassies can, by virtue of their status in international relations, gain access to the highest levels of government, the media and business in host countries, thus providing a platform to promote Ireland and Irish companies. Ireland's relatively modest network of embassies and consulates continues to work to restore Ireland's international reputation, which has been affected by the economic and financial crisis, and to support the export-led growth which is crucial to our recovery.

Following a Government decision, certain trade promotion functions were transferred from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 1 June 2011. This transfer has given my Department an enhanced role in trade promotion, which should in turn provide a renewed emphasis for this work and help facilitate a stronger relationship with all Departments and State agencies responsible for supporting the growth of Irish exports.

Export-led growth is fundamental to our plans for economic recovery and the decision by Government to give my Department this enhanced role in trade promotion recognises the importance of the contribution of the Department and its embassy network in delivering the Government's trade strategy. Local market teams chaired by our ambassadors and including representatives of the relevant State agencies are working hard in all of our priority markets overseas.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is responsible for managing the new Export Trade Council. In line with the commitment in the programme for Government, the first meeting of the Export Trade Council chaired by the Tánaiste took place on Thursday, 29 September 2011. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, as well as me, together with representatives of other relevant Departments and the CEOs of the appropriate agencies, all participated in the meeting. In addition, IBEC and the Irish Exporters Association also participated, as did representatives of private sector companies with a track record in exporting.

The Export Trade Council subsumes the previous Foreign Trade Council and will strengthen co-operation and co-ordination across all key Departments and State agencies involved in promotion and development of trade and exports, as well as overseeing the progressive implementation of the recommendations set out in the Government's trade strategy and action plan, Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy, which waspublished in October 2010. As Senators will be aware, the strategy seeks to build on our strengths in existing markets and develop exports and tourism in emerging economies.

Management of the Export Trade Council will give my Department a key role in implementing aspects of the strategy and will mean a closer relationship with Enterprise Ireland, particularly with regard to trade missions led by the Tánaiste or me. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation retains lead responsibility for trade policy, which includes representing Ireland's trade interests in the context of the EU common commercial policy and at the World Trade Organisation.

At its inaugural meeting on 29 September 2011, the council reviewed our recent performance in trade, tourism and investment. Based on the most recent Central Statistics Office and agency figures, all of the trends were positive. The council considered a progress report on implementation of the action plan for the trade, tourism and investment strategy to maximise the opportunities, as well as to deal with the challenges and constraints faced by Irish companies trying to grow their businesses abroad. The council also considered progress reports from the local trade, tourism and investment teams, comprising representatives of the locally based State agencies and chaired by the ambassador or head of mission, to which I have already referred. These teams are already established in all of our 27 priority markets identified in the trade strategy.

A number of key issues were identified at the meeting, which the Tánaiste, as chair of the council will pursue through the framework of the council. One of the items discussed at the first meeting of the council was progress to date in realigning our visa regime with our economic priorities, which is one of the commitments in the action plan for Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy.In response, the Department of Justice and Equality set up an interdepartmental mechanism to look at ways of realigning our visa regime to support the Government's integrated strategy for the promotion of overseas trade, tourism and investment. The visa waiver programme announced at the end of June is the first tangible outcome of the new mechanism set up under the strategy and represents the kind of joined-up action required of the Government if we are to meet the challenge of export-led recovery.

Under the programme, tourists or business people who have lawfully entered the UK, including Northern Ireland, on a valid UK visa will be able to travel on to Ireland without the requirement to obtain an Irish visa. They will be allowed to stay in Ireland for up to three months or until their UK visa runs out, whichever is the shorter. Nationals of 16 countries in all are included in the programme, including India, Kazakhstan, Peoples Republic of China, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Belarus, Montenegro, Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. This is an excellent example of a joined-up Government response to what is widely accepted as a genuine constraint to the growth of Irish tourism in new and emerging markets such as China, India and the Gulf.

The Department of Justice and Equality will shortly bring to the Cabinet further developments to the visa regime for entrepreneurs and investors who wish to do business in Ireland. Whereas it is expected that the Council will convene up to three times annually, the terms of reference of the council allow for the establishment of working groups to examine specific topics between its plenary meetings if necessary. It is intended to hold the second meeting of the council early in 2012. I emphasise that the Government is committed to doing all in its power to support an export-led recovery by ensuring the most effective and efficient use of all of the available resources, including our embassy network, so that our trade, tourism and investment sectors are able to maximise opportunities in our existing and key high growth potential markets. The Government believes the Export Trade Council will play an important role in achieving this objective.

I know that the Members of this House who contributed to last year's report on Ireland's foreign trade, published by the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, were very much in favour-----