Mr. Barry Andrews:

I am sure she is. I am on the trade committee so China looms large in our policy framework and the European Union has taken on all sorts of protective instruments. The EU is described as a vegetarian in a world of carnivores because everybody else is taking advantage of level playing fields, state-owned enterprises, technology transfer and all sorts of abuses. It could be said that China is at the centre of all of that. The European Union is not necessarily ending globalisation but it is reconfiguring it. President von der Leyen referred to trade agreements with Mexico, Chile, Australia and New Zealand, which are all in the pipeline. It is a reconfiguration and a fresh start for trade agreements with trade sustainability chapters being crucial.

Responding to Senator Dolan, there is an Irish Regions European Office based in Brussels. I repeat that Senators and Deputies come to Brussels at least once a year. I strongly recommend that Senator Dolan engages with the Irish Regions European Office in Brussels on the issues she has raised and hope she will be able to get some answers.