I, too, welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, and congratulate him on his promotion, which is richly deserved. He is one of the few Members on the Government side who regularly makes the trek, as I often do, out to Ballymount. Anybody who is willing to go a few rounds with Vincent is more than able for the job the Minister of State has just been given. As Seanad spokesman on education for my party, our swords will undoubtedly cross at times, but I look forward to working with him and wish him well for the future.
I have tabled this Adjournment matter to highlight the need for Ireland to re-establish its representative office in Taipei, given the significant potential for greater economic and cultural links between this country and Taiwan. I recently visited Taiwan as part of an Oireachtas delegation and was hugely impressed by the country's economic progress, respect for human rights and high-quality health service.
Economically, Taiwan is doing extremely well. Indeed, from 1952 to 2012, it achieved an average annual economic growth rate of 7.3%, one of the fastest growth rates in the world. While that rate has slowed in recent years in the context of the wider economic environment and the impact of the global financial downturn, the international economic crisis has had a much lighter impact on Taiwan than on other developed economies, including our own. The country's unemployment rate is below 4% and the proportion of people living below the poverty line is 1.5%.
Taiwan also has a world-class health service, with a national insurance system far superior to the Dutch model the Government seems intent on emulating. This is an issue I intend to raise with the new Minister for Health, who has just left the Chamber. It is an excellent system based on compulsory health insurance, with everybody paying into the system through the taxation regime. There are no private providers competing for insurance premia, as is expected in our system. Instead, competition is at the point of delivery, with providers competing to provide services and thereby helping to ensure costs are kept as low as possible. The Taiwanese authorities have managed to eliminate waiting lists in the system and provide a top-class service. There is much we can learn from their experience.
In recent years, Taiwan has become one of Asia's main providers of foreign direct investment, ranking only behind Japan, mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore. The opportunities for Irish export companies are immense. Food companies, in particular, could find a huge market there. During our visit to Taiwan we discovered that although it currently imports much of its beef from the United States, there is an awareness of the superiority of Irish beef as a result of the conditions in which cattle are reared and the rules in regard to feed and so on. The Taiwanese would like to import Irish beef but it requires a broader trade agreement to facilitate that. More generally, there is scope for a range of Irish enterprises to build business partnerships with local companies which would help them to succeed not only in Taiwan but also in mainland China and Asia. In other words, Taiwan could potentially be a significant gateway for Irish companies into Asia.
There is also great potential to encourage more tourism from Taiwan. The last Government introduced in a 90-day visa waiver for Taiwanese tourists, which allows them to visit Ireland without having to go through the administrative rigmarole of obtaining a visa. However, the number of tourists coming here is still very small. The reason may well be that there is very little on-the-ground promotion of Ireland as a tourist destination. There is no office there selling Ireland as a place Taiwanese people should visit.
There is also considerable potential to attract more Taiwanese students to our third level colleges and English language schools. The potential is there, too, for greater cultural links between the two countries. As part of our visit, we attended the very successful Irish dancing school in Taipei. It was interesting to see Taiwanese men and women enjoying Irish dancing, including competitively.
As I have outlined, there are opportunities for closer co-operation on many different levels, but Ireland is not realising those opportunities. One of the main inhibiting factors is the impact of the closure of the former representative office some years ago as part of the broader reduction in the number of embassies. Earlier this year the Government reopened the Vatican Embassy and opened new embassies in other countries. It is time now to examine the case for reopening the Taiwanese office. Eighteen other EU countries have representative offices there, in addition to the EU office. One of the main benefits of this presence is the monthly meeting between the representatives of the various offices and the EU office to discuss trade opportunities. We are missing out on that by having no representation. I urge the Minister of State to use any influence he has with the Minister for Foreign Affairs to ensure the office in Taipei is reopened.
