Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 335: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the level of job losses anticipated by his Department arising from the World Trade Organisation talks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14549/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Doha Development Agenda Round of talks in the World Trade Organization was launched in 2001. There is now reason to believe that it could reach a breakthrough within the next two to three months (although by no means certain), but the content of any final agreement is still far from clear. As a result, it is not possible to accurately anticipate the broad national consequences for employment.

Although the negotiations are still too undeveloped to allow for any useful employment predictions, it is possible to draw some conclusions from the direction the negotiations are taking. It is very likely that an agreement will benefit sectors of the economy that have gained from increasing trade liberalisation over the last few decades and that have more recently contributed to the positive economic transformation of the country.