An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-24
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Conor Murphy (SF), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I also welcome the ambassador and our guests from Ukraine and offer them our ongoing solidarity as they continue to suffer aggression from Russia in the invasion of their country. We know all too well in this country the experience of an imperialist neighbouring aggressor and how that feels over many years, decades and, indeed, centuries.
I want to raise the issue of tariffs with the Leader, which obviously has come back into sharp focus with the ruling of the US Supreme Court last week that much of President Trump's planned tariff regime was, in fact, illegal. Unfortunately - or maybe fortunately - it falls to the courts to impose the checks and balances between the Administration and the Congress that should be in place. However, we know that the Trump Administration has had a decades-long obsession with tariffs and the latest tariff announcement which has come has created even more chaos and confusion for businesses around the world. That comes on the back of the huge uncertainty that has been created since last year, further increasing the potential for a global slowdown and deterring businesses from investing.
The previous agreement reached by the EU and the United States was not a good deal. Now, it is obviously clear that it represented a premature surrender to Trump and it has left companies in Ireland and Europe exporting to the US at a disadvantage due to one-sided tariffs. I know that deal continues to progress through the European institutions and a vote at the trade committee has been postponed for the time being. Amidst all of that uncertainty, Ireland needs to redouble its own efforts to diversify and strengthen the domestic economy to reduce our reliance on the US, which is fast becoming a very unreliable trading partner. As the Government navigates its response, I urge both the Government here and the EU to ensure protection for the all-Ireland economy, because we have the added complications of a potentially different tariff regime on each part of the island and they must ensure we accord unique circumstances to our island and across Ireland to ensure that all-island economy is protected.
I ask the Leader to facilitate the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to come into the Chamber to discuss this important matter. This event last week has created further uncertainty and the response to it from the US Administration deepens that uncertainty. It is a very worrying time for business. In the first instance, we will want to know what our own Government here is doing to make sure we reduce our exposure to the damaging effects of tariffs and their disruption to world trade.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-24