Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

Senator Ó Clochartaigh's question relates to the human rights of the Seanad, with which I concur. I welcome the Tánaiste to the House. I would like to focus on his role as trade Minister and in particular his proposed visit to New York to promote investment by the US in Ireland.

Many of my colleagues were among the tens of thousands of people in College Green last year to welcome President Obama. I presume many of them hope he will be re-elected in November. In his State of the Union address last week President Obama pronounced, as he has done previously, his desire that American investment would be directed back home and that American tax laws be changed - I am paraphrasing a little - to discourage American investment overseas in an effort to bring jobs back home. American investment is crucial for Ireland. We are heavily dependant on US investment into Ireland. I ask that the Tánaiste impress on his American colleagues, in particular Mrs. Hillary Clinton, that this Obama initiative would be a disaster for Ireland.