Michael Noonan
Ceist:2 Mr. Noonan asked the Taoiseach when he will next convene a meeting of the Ireland America Economic Advisory Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9957/01]
Ceisteanna – Questions. - Ireland America Economic Advisory Board.
I chaired a meeting of the Ireland America Economic Advisory Board on Friday, 16 March in Washington. The meeting included a discussion on developments in both the Irish and US economies, and on Ireland's strategy for research, development and innovation. I also took the opportunity to brief members on the peace process.
Board meetings are normally arranged to coincide with visits by the Taoiseach to the United States. I currently plan to visit New York in early November and, subject to scheduling constraints, I hope to hold a further meeting of the board during that visit. I expect that a board meeting will be held, as is normally the case, over the St. Patrick's Day period next year.
On an ongoing basis, the board constitutes an important resource upon which the Taoiseach can draw, as required. The Irish Embassy in Washington maintains regular contact with board members, and I may also have the opportunity to meet individual members if they are visiting Ireland.
In recent months there has been a series of down-sizing announcements by US companies which have significant operations in Ireland. They include Gateway, Motorola and Hewlett-Packard. Intel let a construction work force of 2,500 people go when it shelved its plans to develop another plant at Leixlip. Given these occurrences and the ongoing concern people have about job security in some American companies in Ireland, does the Taoiseach believe more regular meetings of the board should be convened so there would be some advance notice of the likely intentions of these companies? Is his Department in ongoing contact with members of the board outside the organised meetings to ensure there is an early warning system available to Departments on any adverse announcements that such companies are making or are likely to make as the American downturn continues?
Normally one or two meetings a year take place, which is sufficient in a formal sense. Topics usually take a good part of a day to discuss. I can confirm that there is regular contact with my Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. A number of committee members also give of their time to come here fairly regularly, such as Brian Thompson, who chaired the discussions on the first telecommunications report, which was very successful. He is now working on the second report. Many of the committee members are involved in education and in their separate ways have built their own links and contacts, which are very useful. Whether times are good or bad, this has been built in the last decade and they liaise with us and feed information back. We appreciate this. Whether the news is good or bad, it is important that we receive forecasts and early warnings. Usually most of the individuals concerned come to Ireland during the summer and I always make time to meet them, either individually or as a group.
I draw the Taoiseach's attention to a statement by the Minister for Finance on Friday, 20 April 2001. When speaking in Malmo, Sweden he said that he considered the views of Mr. Duisenberg, the Governor of the European Central Bank, to be simplistic if he thought that the euro zone could escape the effects of an American downturn. He went on to say that he believed that a sustained downturn in the United States would have an effect—
Quoting during Question Time is not in order.
It is a reference. I am not actually reading text.
I am just pointing to the rule.
I have known it for a long time.
I expect the Deputy to abide by it.
I am.
The Deputy does not appear to be abiding by it.
I do not think you are allowed to rule on appearances.
I am ruling. I will let the Deputy—
I am stating that I am not quoting. I am using, as I always do, an aide-memoire. If the Chair wants to see the text, he will see that I am not quoting. I am drawing the Taoiseach's attention to a statement made by the Minister for Finance in Malmo, Sweden, where he criticised the Governor of the European Central Bank, saying that he thought the Governor's views simplistic and that he expected there would be a considerable adverse effect for the euro zone, including Ireland, from an American recession. Has the Taoiseach been briefed by the Minister for Finance on the effects of this? The Minister for Finance has strong views on the matter. What precisely are the adverse affects he is talking about?
I am sure that it is not fair to take a line out of the full text of what the Minister for Finance said. The reality is that across technology and dot.com companies many of the announcements made since the beginning of the year were based on the results for the last quarter of last year in the United States when there was marginal growth and on the basis that worldwide operations, including Asia and Europe, have had percentage cuts in staff. There have been holes in many operations, which will have an impact on Europe, about which there is no doubt, though we hope it will not be as bad as some people say. According to our Central Bank and OECD projections for this year, there will still be over 6% growth, three times the European average. That would be an enormous achievement in a year in which there has been a downturn or tightening in the United States. Any sensible person would see that is the position, but so far so good. We have experienced some difficulties, but they have not been as harsh as was indicated prior to Christmas.
Has the Taoiseach assessed the effects of the US slowdown on Media Lab Europe or on the digital media district project?
They have not been affected as most companies will continue to spend much of their budgets on research. If anything, there has been an upturn in that area because of the amount of money that was put into Technology Foresight Ireland and into research. Luckily, the moves of recent years have enabled us to improve our position in an area which is relevant to the jobs and products of the future. There has not been any effect from the US slowdown.