Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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63. To ask the Minister for Finance the level of trade in both directions with the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40397/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) statistical releases on external trade show that in 2018 Ireland exported €16.1 billion worth of goods to the UK, and imported €20.0 billion worth of goods from the UK. This represents 11 per cent of total goods  exports and 22 per cent of total  goods imports.

In 2017, the latest year for which goods and services data are available, 14 per cent of our goods and services imports (€35.4 billion) came from the UK, compared to 15 per cent (€42.5 billion) of our goods and services exports destined for the UK.

The UK is one of Ireland’s most important trading partners. Maintaining the closest possible trading relationship between the EU and the UK is therefore one of the Government’s key Brexit priorities.

The Government will continue to work to improve the business environment – to make it more competitive, to assist exporters to diversify markets, and to provide better infrastructure.

Longer-term, we need to mitigate against the potential of regulatory divergence between the UK and EU standards given its potential impact on trade and investment and the competitiveness of our businesses. We will therefore be working to minimise this impact and to ensure a level playing field.