Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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926. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment how the Government is preparing for the potential negative economic impact arising from US trade policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42593/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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As the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, I brought to Government a memo on an all of Government Action Plan on Market Diversification which is a key element of the Government’s response to the current evolving global trading landscape. The Action Plan on Market Diversification went to Cabinet on July 22nd and was approved. It is intended that this plan will be published with a launch tentatively scheduled for late August.

This Action Plan has benefited from extensive engagement across Government Departments and State agencies. The plan reflects a whole-of-Government commitment to supporting Irish businesses in navigating change and seizing new opportunities, with 100 actions with a timeframe attached to most deliverables.

The Action Plan has been structured around four core objectives:

- Supporting Exporting Businesses and Market Access

- Deepening and Broadening Ireland’s International Engagement

- Delivering Trade and Tourism Missions for Strategic Impact

- Enhancing Domestic Readiness for Economic Engagement and partnership.

The Government stands ready to support Irish exporters through its current range of supports and our focus is on assisting businesses in developing a response to trade tariffs.

My department provides funding for dedicated schemes and grants, including a strategic consultancy grant for expert advice to support SMEs to internationalise. Enterprise Ireland have a market discovery fund already open, and have put in place a Tariffs Response Team to lead on the measures that will be needed to support Irish exporters to adopt a strategic approach to consolidate and grow their business in the US, while also pursuing diversification in markets, products, and customer bases to enhance resilience and sustain long-term growth.

IDA Ireland is closely engaging with client companies on trade related developments given their importance to the global FDI landscape with a focus on partnering with existing clients to strengthen long-term investment in Ireland and to pursue new opportunities associated with FDI growth drivers across our core sectors.

Working with our agencies my department continues to participate in the Government’s Trade Forum, and I will be pro-actively engaging with businesses to make them aware of the supports available and ensure they are accessed at scale.