Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 205: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which imports under various headings have fluctuated throughout the past five years and to date in 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5288/10]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 206: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the trend in respect of exports under the various headings throughout each of the past five years and to date in 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5289/10]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 205 and 206 together.

Merchandise Trade statistics, by category, are available up to October 2009 and Services Trade statistics, by category, are only available up to end-2008, from the Central Statistics Office. The following data therefore sets out trends for the most significant export and import categories for the five full years of 2004 – 2008 and, in the case of Merchandise Trade, also for January-October 2009 with data for January – October 2008 for comparison.

Ireland's export performance in recent times has been admirable. In the period 2004-2008, annual growth in total Irish exports has averaged 5.5%. For the first nine months of 2009 there has been a reduction of only 0.6%, a remarkable performance when compared to our EU partners. The latest merchandise figures released by Eurostat (the EU Statistics body) last month, show that Ireland has the smallest rate of decline in merchandise exports in the EU for the period January-October 2009 as compared to January - October 2008; that most EU countries showed a decline of least –20%; and that after Germany, with a merchandise trade surplus of €105bn, Ireland has the second highest surplus in absolute terms at €33bn. Many of the larger Member States are showing very substantial deficits, including the United Kingdom, France and Spain.

* suppressed by CSO for confidentiality reasons