Gerry Adams
Question:6. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach when the next meeting of the Cabinet committee on economy, trade and jobs will be held. [15403/17]
View answerTuesday, 4 April 2017
Questions (6, 7)
Joan Burton
Question:7. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on economy, trade and jobs last met. [15510/17]
View answerOral answers (34 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 7 together.
The Cabinet Committee on the economy, trade and jobs last met on 27 February this year. The next Cabinet committee on economy, trade and jobs is scheduled to take place next Monday morning.
By the way, I do not accept the Taoiseach's logic regarding Ireland, the North and his points on Gibraltar. They are different situations, but I still regard-----
They are different.
I am well aware of that-----
Was there any discussion about Rockall?
I did not expect-----
-----but that does not in any way relieve the Taoiseach-----
-----that the Deputy would accept it.
No, I accept it. Of course I know that Gibraltar, the North and the Irish situation are different. For goodness sake, talk about a statement of the obvious. The Taoiseach cannot be relieved in the way that he has sought to be relieved of the responsibility that he carries to attain maximum negotiating leverage in respect of the rights and interests of all of Ireland, including the North.
Deputy, we have moved on to Question No. 6.
I do not believe that the Taoiseach has arrived at that position.
I accept that, Deputy McDonald. Of course.
We will debate that again, I am sure.
Do not try to divert the argument. I accept that completely.
I am not diverting anything.
We will have a full debate.
Then what is Deputy McDonald saying?
I am responding to the gibberish that I had to endure for the past couple of minutes.
What is the Deputy saying?
If we cannot agree on much else, we all accept that Brexit is a major threat to the economies on this island. A weekend report in The Sunday Business Post claimed that the Government was afraid that Irish companies would relocate to Britain to avoid tariffs and currency risks. It also claimed to have received a series of internal Government documents under freedom of information request that showed the breadth of the Government's concerns across a range of sectors, including fishing, research, forestry and agrifood. Apparently, one of the documents revealed the Government's concern about the possibility that, post Brexit, Britain would be in a better position to attract foreign direct investment. Is that true?
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's briefing notes warn that this State faces "a very uncertain situation related to the management and sharing of a large number of different fish stocks". The British fishing industry wants to exclude all foreign boats, including Irish ones, from its fisheries zone after Brexit. That will directly impact on at least 36% of fish caught by this State's fishing fleet. What measures is the Taoiseach proposing to protect our fishing industry? I will leave it at that because time is against me.
I would like it if Deputy McDonald was a little clearer on what it was that she was saying. I accept my responsibilities as Taoiseach in terms of the negotiating mandate and requirement that we have here, and that is why I have kept the Opposition party leaders fully briefed on the preparations for Brexit in that regard.
It is true, and I agree with the Deputy, that we have never been down this road before. Nobody has moved Article 50. Nobody has left the European Union. This is going to have an impact, not just nationally or internationally, but also globally, and it will have an impact on the economies of the island of Ireland. That is why it is very important that the Deputy's own party would work with the other parties in the North and put together the Executive, which will speak for the economic aspects and the businesses and the trade unions and the workers in Northern Ireland.
Yes, I think it is probably true that, over the last number of years, there have been Irish firms that set up subsidiaries or relocated some of their enterprises in Britain long before Brexit ever came. It is also true that, in respect of the interest being expressed in Ireland from financial houses, banks or sectors of them, they are very interested in relocating to Ireland. Many have multiple units at the moment. They will want to continue to be part of the Single Market. They have the second highest busiest route in the world, with connectivity, English language speakers and access to a churn of young talent, which is very important in terms of the products and services that are going to be provided in the future. Clearly, we have lost €500 million in value terms, because of currency fluctuations, in the drinks and food industry, and Enterprise Ireland has been very conscious of this.
Fish stocks will probably be one of the most complicated arguments of all. The Common Fisheries Policy is not something that can be unravelled in individual segments because it has been a traded business over very many years when some countries had no real interest in their fisheries potential, including ourselves, I have to say. While it might be very much in Britain's interests that Brexit would suit it, in that a majority of the quota is caught in British waters, clearly there will be some very complicated negotiations to be held about the fisheries industry and fishery stocks in the time ahead.
Clearly, agriculture has suffered some difficulties in the context of an approaching Brexit. This applies in some areas of agribusiness, most notably the mushroom trade, which was partly brought on by changes in the value of sterling. There are other issues, not just with fishing, but also tourism. For the first time in a long while, tourism figures have fallen somewhat, although hopefully not much more. Much of this relates to changes in the value of sterling, with people who have been planning a break in, for example, County Donegal finding that their pound sterling does not go as far.
I am asked a certain question all of the time. I am sure that other Members are as well. What, if anything, is the Government doing to help businesses in agriculture, tourism and so on? I have read everything from Enterprise Ireland and the IDA and I know that the Taoiseach and Ministers have run a series of conferences, but the Taoiseach just pointed to a key issue. Notwithstanding his acknowledgement that certain areas face difficulties, he referred to Ireland potentially attracting new banking jobs to Dublin, for example, but that is exactly what the crisis is going to be about. Jobs are leaving rural Ireland and tourism areas on the west coast, including in the north west, are facing falls. Those who work in the west and the rest of rural Ireland in fishing, farming, agribusiness, mushrooms in Monaghan or elsewhere will not get those banking jobs in Dublin or Cork city. That is where the disconnect lies. The Taoiseach does not seem to be tied into it.
The Deputy needs to conclude. Time is up.
What does the Taoiseach propose to do for such businesses, which are facing difficulties? Has the Cabinet sub-committee ever considered this matter?
The first thing that I would say to Deputy Burton is that tourism has enormous potential. The Wild Atlantic Way is a concept that has caught on. The lakelands and the midlands districts are seeing a huge surge of interest from abroad, as is Ireland's Ancient East. The Norwegian decision to fly from Cork, Shannon, Belfast and Dublin will do for long haul what Ryanair did for short haul. I expect seriously increased numbers to come in. Clearly, Ireland is seen as a very attractive location from a hospitality point of view.
As the Deputy knows, on the broader scene we are making a joint bid for the rugby world cup for 2023. Advance preparation is very much in train there. The British Open will be coming here in 2019. The Irish Open will for one in three years go to Northern Ireland. The opportunities for the hospitality sector are very strong. It should be remembered that the Minister for Finance reduced the VAT rate during the Deputy's own time in Government, from 13.5% to 9%. That is oftentimes forgotten, but not only did it sustain the industry, it created between 35,000 and 50,000 new jobs.
Unemployment is at 6.4% today. This is almost full employment, as the Deputy recognises. That trend was in the downward direction when both she and Deputy Howlin were in the previous Government. I see Microsoft and Indeed here in Dublin, NGINX in Cork, Allergan in Westport, multiple announcements of jobs in the Limerick area, and the advance factories in Sligo, Athlone, Castlebar and Tralee being completed and seriously investigated in terms of employment opportunities.
These are opportunities here for foreign direct investment. That line of investment continues to be strong. When I was in the United States recently I came across many people interested in following through either on initial assessments or existing investments here. When I was in Davos earlier in the year with the Minister for Finance we met 20 chief executives, many of whom are looking seriously at Ireland in terms of investment. On the other hand, we have given Enterprise Ireland additional resources, staff and facilities to help small and medium enterprises to export. There were 100 trade missions abroad this year. We can sell far more in the eurozone, the Nordic countries and beyond. These are opportunities in respect of which we are working hard with the ministries for trade and diplomatic services. Everybody now has a role in selling the brand image of Ireland because of the integrity and quality of what we produce.
I will allow a quick supplementary question from Deputies Micheál Martin, Brendan Howlin and Seán Haughey.
The overriding priority in terms of Brexit is trade. It is the issue that will determine the degree of damage that will be done to the island of Ireland as a result of Brexit. In other words, if a bespoke deal is done with Britain, which maintains, in essence, the Single Market that we currently enjoy, then significant progress may be made in damage limitation in terms of Brexit. In that context, has the Cabinet Committee on the Economy, Trade and Jobs commissioned or produced a position paper or analysis on the impact on trade of a hard Brexit and has it undertaken a sector by sector analysis in terms of the impact of the British decision to leave the European Union? We have some idea of the likely impact on the agrifood sector. The Taoiseach referenced fishing rights in terms of our capacity to fish our quota, a significant amount of which currently takes place in British waters. It seems to me that we cannot take our eye off the ball in terms of trade. I know the European Union will be doing the bulk of the negotiations but surely at this stage there must be a sector by sector analysis by the Cabinet Committee on the Economy, Trade and Jobs and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation with a view to our having an idea as to the potential impact of Brexit on trade. Can the Taoiseach confirm whether work has been undertaken on such a paper and, if so, will he commit to publishing it?
I want to follow-up on the regional impact, which is really important. The analysis suggests that Dublin might do all right out of all of this but there will be regions that will be enormously adversely hit, particularly the midlands and the south east. That is what the ESRI has told us and the Taoiseach directly. We need to be working right now on an export strategy that improves our direct links to the Continent from the island of Ireland. This will require us to have a ports strategy. I am aware of all of the arguments in regard to State subvention to develop ports such as the Rosslare Europort. We need to have a policy platform that will ensure that we greatly improve our direct links. Is the Taoiseach working on such a ports plan? What specifically does he have in mind for Rosslare Europort? The Taoiseach will recall that the Indecon plan referenced a different governance structure for it. Will that be part of the plan?
On the economy, trade and jobs, Dublin City Council is currently finalising reports on Brexit. The indications are that Dublin will not be Brexit ready. The view is that we will not be able to cater for the opportunities for Dublin in terms of financial services and so forth because of a lack of investment in housing, infrastructure, transport and so on and that economic growth will cause problems for Dublin in that we will not be able to meet the capacity. I hope Government Ministers are conscious of those reports. There are small opportunities arising out of Brexit. However, Dublin City Council has produced reports which suggest that we need a lot of investment to ensure we can harness those opportunities.
Deputy Haughey's last comment is true. Following on from the collapse of the construction sector during the recession 100,000 jobs were lost and construction came to a stand-still. We are starting from a low base to catch up on that curve. There is €42 billion on the table in terms of the capital programme for the next number of years. The scale of what is to be provided from an infrastructure point of view is exceptionally challenging. Currently, there is approximately 3.5 million sq. ft. of commercial space under development and a further 1 million sq. ft. under refurbishment. As the Deputy will be aware, work in respect of the cross-city Luas project is ongoing, as is work on connecting bridges and extension of the DART line. These are infrastructural issues that are challenging. We also need to address the supply of housing, which is very much on the rear foot, particularly in the social area, and the Government is addressing this as a matter of priority.
We have set out the strategy. There are 14 different sectors being analysed by the Department. As has been said, we want to increase our indigenous exports, including food, to €26 billion by 2020, which is a 26% increase on the figure for 2015. We also want to generate 30,000 more jobs in tourism by 2020 and €5 billion in overseas tourism revenues by 2025, all of which is challenging but achievable. We want to secure 900 new foreign direct investments between now and 2019 and to increase our international-----
That is a separate matter. My question was about the impact of Brexit.
Yes. We have sectoral analyses under way. All of the different options have been examined. We want to increase our student numbers to 176,500 by the academic year 2019-20 and to intensify and diversify 80% of indigenous export growth to 2020 to be outside of the UK market and to maintain exports of at least €7.5 billion to the UK. These are the issues on which we are following through.
In response to Deputy Martin's question, all of the options have been examined. The Deputy is correct that trade is the issue. In regard to the negotiations that are to take place the nature of the trading relationship is still not clear. The document from President Tusk is going through the 27 and will be signed off on, hopefully, on 29 April. The document sets out the ground work and foundations of what will happen. This goes back to the issue of full membership of the Customs Union, partial membership of the Customs Union, no deal and the consequences of that for tariffs, as pointed out by the Deputy. In terms of where we are now, the letter triggering Article 50 has been put in place; an initial response has been issued by the European Union and the foundation document on the discussions and negotiations that will take place has been issued. It remains to be seen what the eventual outcome will be.
We launched the new trade, tourism and investment strategy entitled, Ireland Connected: Trading and Investing in a Dynamic World. We have also made it clear that 135,000 of the 200,000 to be created by 2020 will be outside the Dublin region. In regard to Deputy Haughey's point that Dublin is not ready for Brexit, I know there will be serious investment here by the different financial sectors but it will not all happen in 18 months. A bank deciding to locate here will have to go through a regulatory process in regard to licensing and so on. The Minister for Finance has made arrangements for the European Central Bank to provide expert personnel if that is needed.
In regard to the ports issue raised by Deputy Howlin, the Minister has already pointed out that following the opening of the European Investment Bank office in Dublin there are opportunities here for major pieces of infrastructure and there will be an income stream to deal with those loans. Again, much depends on the trading relationship and whether tariffs will apply at ports because that could change the economic model of the port to be involved. Rosslare is a case in point.
We need to be planning for that now.
Yes. That is the reason the office was opened in its current location. These matters are under active consideration. The foundation document should be signed off on 29 April. We will then move on from there. The Minister of State, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, is very active all over Europe with the financial houses in promoting Ireland as the best country in the world in which to invest.