Trade Promotion
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

It is connected to what I was saying about the work we are doing in the EU, such as focusing on competitiveness and simplification so we can reduce some of the barriers, being honest, that we have imposed on ourselves that are adding cost to business. We are still focusing on the main trading partners we have. The EU is one of them and the US is a critical one. A huge amount of our focus and my time is making sure we can get absolute clarity on what the tariffs are and the implications for the various different sectors that are important to us.
We know there are certain industries, particularly agrifood and medical technology, where we need to make greater progress because of the current tariffs. That work is under way because no matter what we do and how much we diversify, the EU, US and UK will be our most important trading partners. With all of these other opportunities, be it through China, Australia or India, where we have a market that is hugely untapped, or in Canada, where we believe we can make much more progress, we still need to make sure that we are getting the most out of the relationships that are closest and most important to us.
While there are challenges there at the moment, I believe, particularly through our Presidency, there is an opportunity for us in our relationship with the UK in trying to bring that closer again with the EU and breaking down those barriers in the EU along with creating stability with the US that will benefit our businesses in so many different ways.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26