Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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42. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if officials in her Department have a role in monitoring developments on the concentrated effort of China opening its markets and dominance in world trade; and if there will be increased resources allocated to Ireland's agencies in China. [45044/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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My Department has prioritised China as a marketplace with significant potential for Irish manufacturing and services and over the last number of years has allocated more resources to this market. IDA Ireland opened its first Chinese office in Shanghai in 2006, and then established an office in Shenzhen in 2010 and Beijing in 2013. Enterprise Ireland have offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Bilateral trade between Ireland and China is worth over €8 billion each year. Ireland’s priority sectors for trade with China include agriculture, education, financial services, culture, and tourism. Exports to China by Irish-owned companies increased by over 49% in 2014, while a total of 92 Irish companies employ over 10,000 people in China.

On 11th February, 2015, following a concerted effort by the Government over several years, the Chinese authorities lifted their longstanding ban on imports of Irish beef into China. This covers “off the bone from animals up to 30 months old at slaughter”. It places Ireland ahead of all other EU member States on the road to opening the Chinese beef market. Bord Bia anticipates that China will become Ireland’s 2nd largest market for food and drink exports in the coming years.

Successive Ministers and Taoisigh have led trade missions to China and we have also received visits from the highest levels of leadership from China to promote trade links between our two Countries. On the 16th-19th January 2017, Minister Eoghan Murphy travelled to China with Enterprise Ireland. The aim of the trade visit was to support the increasing number of Fintech companies targeting the Chinese market as part of Enterprise Ireland’s ongoing focus on market diversification and the growing cooperation between Ireland and China. One of the aims of the Enterprise Ireland 2017-2020 corporate strategy is to ensure that Irish fintech companies are well positioned to continue to grow their business and make new business contacts in China. Enterprise Ireland is working collaboratively with IDA Ireland to achieve the IFS2020 strategic goals which include increasing the number of start-ups, increasing the number of direct employees by 10,000 and driving innovation and research in the sector.

On 21st August 2017, the Taoiseach announced Government plans to double Ireland’s global footprint by 2025. My Department is in discussions with DPER in relation to the allocation of additional resources to deliver on one of the key aims of Ireland’s Global Footprint 2025, which is to attract greater investment in Ireland and increase our exports into key strategic markets like China.

A comprehensive EU-China Investment Agreement is currently under negotiation, which will provide Ireland and other EU Member States with increased market access. Ireland is fully invested in this agreement and supports the European Commission as lead negotiator in the ongoing negotiations.