Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----when I was appointed by the late Taoiseach, Mr. Charles J. Haughey, at my request, to the Department of Industry and Commerce with responsibility for trade and marketing, with then Minister, Mr. Des O'Malley, I was delegated full responsibility for international trade and the negotiations of the Single European Act. That may not be known to Ms Prendergast but it is a fact. At the time, the then Minister, Mr. Des O'Malley, was extremely generous and forthright in signing an order which gave me full authority to negotiate that. I refer to the period 1989 to 1992. In fact, in 1992 it came into being, and in the 1990s it was very active. I had tremendous backup in Europe from our permanent staff, the ambassador and the sectoral responsibilities. All of the Departments fed in through the Department with responsibility for trade and marketing, and they fed in on everything - education, health, energy, communications. That was the way it worked; there was one lead Department. The backup of our Civil Service in Europe is second to none. It is outstanding.

I compliment the current ambassador. As Ms Prendergast will be aware, I was in Brussels the week before last. I met her for a few minutes and she was busy at her work on the day concerned. The current ambassador has been most active on the agreement reached on the budget.

Ms Prendergast outlined her role comprehensively, and I am delighted she is in the trade area. On the Order of Business, I mentioned the significant speech by President Barack Obama last night in his State of the Union address to the Congress. It is one of the most significant statements on Europe I have heard made by an American president. He wants to create a transatlantic trade agreement between the 500 million people of the European Union and the 50 states of the United States. I raise this with Ms Prendergast as an MEP. I ask her, as an MEP representing Ireland, to make this a priority. There is a meeting on Thursday, as far as I can recall. With Ireland's Presidency of the European Council, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore, now have an opportunity of leading the negotiations. These will take time. It is a complex situation, but there are enormous opportunities. I remember being a trade Minister representing Musgrave in Cork and other companies exporting to the United States of America. There are different barriers and conditions of trade in relation to sales to the United States of America, but if those were lifted and there was a transatlantic free trade area between the United States of America and Europe, it would have enormous potential for job creation and job retention, particularly because of our links with the United States of America, such as our 40 million diaspora and The Gathering this year. I was delighted when I heard President Obama's speech. It is a big step forward. It also leads in to the question of emigration and the rights of the Irish in the United States of America. That question certainly will be part and parcel of negotiations.

It is appropriate that Ms Prendergast is here today because she is a member of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection. I think she is the only representative from Ireland in the area of trade and the Internal Market. It is tremendous that she can use her influence as an MEP. If she makes that to which I have referred a target until 2014, it will be a substantial achievement, and I mean that sincerely. When President Obama spoke in that regard, I felt it was one of the most important statements and the biggest opportunities that Ireland and Europe will get to compete with countries such as China and India. I thank Ms Prendergast and wish her well in the future.