Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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118. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on Ireland's current trade status with China; if this trade continues to grow; if Chinese companies are, or will be, involved in any Public Private Partnership projects in the new Capital Programme; the value of this trade to the Irish economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36839/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Ireland enjoys a strong and growing bilateral relationship with China. It is therefore no surprise that we also have a thriving trading relationship from which both countries benefit. Trade has grown impressively in recent years to the extent that China was our 9th largest trading partner in 2014, representing around 2 and a half percent of our total trade.

In 2014, exports in merchandise trade were €2.111 billion and imports were €3.480 billion. The equivalent merchandise trade figures for 2013 were exports of €1.94 billion and imports of €3.09 billion. So overall merchandise trade with China grew by €560m, or over 11% in 2014. The latest figures from the Central Statistics for the first eight months of this year show that they continue to grow, up by over 20% from the same period last year.

Trade in services figures for 2014 are not yet available from the Central Statistics Office, but in 2013 services exports were €2.71 billion and imports were €0.37 billion. The equivalent trade in services figures for 2012 were exports of €2.57 billion and imports of €0.34 billion. Taking merchandise and services figures together, Ireland is one a small number of countries which has a trade surplus with China.

The new capital programme: ‘Building on Recovery: Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2016-2021’ was launched on September 29 and is primarily under the remit of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It has a budget of €27 billion over the 6 years of the Programme, and all projects will have an open and competitive procurement process.

Both national and international companies will be permitted to tender for Public Private Partnership projects which are part of the Programme. These have a combined value of around €500 million, and will be developed in the Justice, Education and Health sectors as part of the new capital programme.

There are no Chinese companies involved in any of the Public Private Partnership projects currently under construction. However, with regard to the new Public Private Partnerships under the new capital programme, the National Development Finance Agency along with the sponsoring Department, in each case run an open procurement competition fully compliant with EU procurement law and are therefore open to all, including Chinese, companies to bid.