Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
Question:39 Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the efforts, if any, which are being made to increase exports to take advantage of the new opportunity in Northern Ireland. [10803/95]
Written Answers. - North-South Trade.
Micheál Martin
Question:44 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the efforts, if any, which are being put in place to boost exports out of the island by Northern and Southern trade development agencies. [10800/95]
Noel Dempsey
Question:68 Mr. Dempsey asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the efforts, if any, which are being made within his Department to encourage firms both North and South to co-operate in seeking public sector contracts both north and south of the Border. [10789/95]
David Andrews
Question:178 Mr. Andrews asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the efforts, if any, which are being made to increase exports to take advantage of the new opportunity in Northern Ireland. [11008/95]
David Andrews
Question:180 Mr. Andrews asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the efforts, if any, which are being put in place between northern and southern trade development agencies to boost exports from the island. [11010/95]
Tony Killeen
Question:187 Mr. Killeen asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the efforts, if any which are being made within his Department to encourage firms both North and South to co-operate in seeking public sector contracts both north and south of the Border. [11021/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 39, 44, 68, 178, 180 and 187 together.
The high level of co-operation which already exists between State agencies on both sides of the Border has resulted in the development of exciting initiatives, designed to assist companies throughout the island to take advantage of the new opportunities which are emerging since the cessation of violence.
An Bord Tráchtála, the agency for which I have responsibility, is working closely with its Northern counterparts, the Industrial Development Board and the Local Enterprise Development Unit in organising programmes and events with the twin objectives of developing North-South trade and bringing companies from all over the island together to create a stronger impact in overseas markets.
Only last month, I attended one of many such co-operative events promoting Irish products abroad — the "Look is Ireland" promotion which took place in Boston. The focus of this joint initiative was to promote Irish fashion in the North American market. This is just one example of ongoing joint promotional activities which are advancing a positive image of Irish products, particularly throughout the UK and Europe.
With regard to co-operative activities relating specifically to public sector contracts, a major conference organised by ABT, in association with the IDB and the British Department of Trade and Industry is due to take place in Dublin later this month. The aim of this conference is to facilitate and encourage linkages between northern and southern companies in pursuing major public sector contracts in partnership. Also, ABT's Public Procurement Intelligence service, available on Minitel, can be accessed by companies North and South, and offers information on public procurement tenders throughout the island of Ireland.
The Northern Ireland market has been identified as a particularly important market for southern exporters and ABT is actively encouraging companies which have neglected it in the past to explore and develop its largely untapped potential. ABT recently published a very comprehensive market profile on Northern Ireland. This is in a user-friendly format and should be particularly useful to southern firms which are unfamiliar with the marketing environment in the North.
In the coming weeks, I will be launching a series of 15 market reports published by ABT and the IDB. The reports cover all the major market and product sectors of interest to companies on both sides of the Border.
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
Question:40 Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade if indigenous firms are gaining full access to grant aid when considering exporting to the Northern Ireland market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10804/95]
David Andrews
Question:177 Mr. Andrews asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade if indigenous firms are gaining full access to grant aid when considering exporting to the Northern Ireland market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11007/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 40 and 177 together.
An Bord Tráchtála does not provide direct grant assistance to indigenous exporters targeting the Northern Ireland market on the basis that the island of Ireland should be treated as one entity from a marketing perspective, exporters are free to avail themselves of the wide range of other services which An Bord Tráchtála has on offer.
For instance, in addition to the heavily subsidised market research which An Bord Tráchtála carries out for companies targeting the Northern market, they have recently published a very comprehensive market profile on Northern Ireland. This is in a user-friendly format and should be particularly useful to those firms which are unfamiliar with the marketing environment in the North.
In the coming weeks, I also intend to launch a major new cross-Border market information initiative — a series of guides to 15 different consumer products sectors, published by An Bord Tráchtála and the Industrial Development Board for Northern Ireland. These guides are very comprehensive and relate to the entire island of Ireland and, will be of benefit to companies on both sides of the Border.