Report on the Contribution of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to Economic Recovery: Statements

28th March 2014 - Olivia Mitchell TD

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this report and to affirm the efforts of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in selling Ireland. The key task facing this Government when we came to office was to try to put people back to work and, in this endeavour, every public servant, Department and agency have had to put their shoulder to the wheel. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was given a key role and specifically tasked with trade promotion. At the outset of this drive, I was privileged to witness at first hand the efforts of two embassies, one – in the company of the Ceann Comhairle – in Europe and the other in Africa. I cannot overstate how impressed I was with the professionalism and the enthusiasm they brought to their new task of selling Ireland. I am surprised that the potential to promote trade by utilising the unique skills and on-the-spot presence of our diplomats was not fully recognised prior to this, although I accept that perhaps in a less focused way the job of our missions abroad has always been to sell Ireland and it is only a logical and natural step that they should also participate in selling our goods and our services.

I do not believe anybody could fail to be impressed by the new professional and integrated approach to trade missions, led by Ministers and Ministers of State, that we have witnessed in recent times. They have taken a cross-Government approach and utilised all State agencies, including our embassies and local Irish businesses, often with the help of the global Irish network abroad. We have seen the proof that this has paid dividends in terms of both inward investment and contracts for Irish business. These missions are of vital importance to a small country that is utterly unsustainable unless it trades. This success has also been recognised and appreciated by Irish business, as confirmed in the report.

The Chairman, in his foreword to the report, mentions the importance of not downgrading the traditional role of the Department in showcasing Ireland in the best possible light not only as an economic unit but as a country concerned with development, human rights – Deputy O’Sullivan also referred to this – and the rule of law and as a country with a distinct culture, historic links with other countries and established national and international interests. These are not directly trade issues but they certainly influence trade. Countries, like people, want to do business with people; they know people and they trust people in whom they have confidence. The financial collapse damaged our reputation not only in the bond market but in all markets. Our embassies have been in the vanguard in trying to reverse that damage, spearheading a positive onslaught of good news stories from Ireland, because without trust, a good reputation and the traditional friendships we have abroad, our trade delegations would be ploughing very infertile land.

I refer to the point Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan made about trading with countries with human rights issues. All those countries that abuse human rights get away and persist with it because they are closed, but trade opens up countries – they are not mutually exclusive. We should trade with them. We should force them to realise what is going on in the rest of the world, and the more dependent they become on trade, the more likely they are to look into their own hearts and what they are doing to their own people.

Our embassies have been key in restoring our reputation and international confidence as a nation with which to trade. The St. Patrick’s Day offensive, as I call it, is also an important part of this, not only as a way of putting us back on the international stage and promoting us in a positive light but in promoting that other vital foreign currency earner, tourism. I thought it was a pity that some politicians criticised Ministers who were travelling to reach out to our diaspora on St. Patrick’s Day, because even the media recognise the value of these missions. They generate unbuyable goodwill and publicity for Ireland, our business and our tourism trade.

From the Department’s perspective, it is a combination of the hard sell and the soft – the goodwill which is paying off for us in terms of increased tourism, inward investment and trade.

This two-pronged approach is reflected in the two divisions established in the Department, with one section dealing with promoting trade directly, supporting the Export Trade Council and working with our trade agencies, while the other concentrates on communicating to all foreign actors a very positive and coherent but accurate economic message. Recently I was at a conference in Greece which had nothing to do with trade, business or economics. Nevertheless the Greek Government ensured all of us who attended were given a good news message about the economy of Greece by the Minister for the press. This highlights the importance for countries, particularly countries which have suffered a difficult financial collapse, of restoring their reputation and economic diplomacy.

There has been much talk about emerging markets and I will not dwell on this because we are aware of where the potential is. Deputy Smith and the Chairman of the committee, Deputy Breen, spoke about the importance of an Ireland House-type approach when we are trying to expand our outreach. This is a very valid point. I understand we will shortly withdraw our ambassador from Lesotho. The Minister spoke about other missions which will open. It is important to capitalise on the potential to co-locate. It is not suitable for every country, but where it is it will give us better bang for our buck and will be a hall door into Ireland so we not only reduce our costs but gain synergies by concentrating our efforts in a single building.

I wish to issue a little warning, not only about how we sell but what we sell. We have all heard about the huge potential for agricultural products, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN, FAO, tells us that by 2050 demand for food will have increased by 70%, not only to feed the extra 2 billion people who will be on the planet but to feed them different foods. Since 1980 world average incomes per capita have been growing at 1.5% and it is expected that by 2050 they will be growing by 2.5% annually. It is growing more in some areas than others; we hear about Asia and China and we all want a bit of that. In Africa growth rates which were unimaginable ten years ago have come out of nowhere. Nigeria is growing by 6%, and we now have trade missions to such countries which we would not have thought of in the past.

As countries get richer they want different foods. They move from a reliance on staples to more luxury foods, by which I mean meat and dairy products. For a food producing country such as Ireland, which specialises in meat and dairy, this change in world demand is a beguiling prospect. Our farmers are already capitalising and embracing the potential it offers. They should continue to do so, and I do not suggest they should not, but as a country we must be careful not to exploit the undoubtedly hugely attractive potential of agriculture to the detriment of other sectors. We need to keep all sectors going and not allow ourselves become overdependent on one sector. This must be the message of the collapse of the building industry on which we had became totally dependent.

I do not know what the future is, but I know that as an industry agriculture is as fragile as any other. Overnight we could lose our competitiveness and our comparative advantages through a range of changes. Any factor could influence it, such as climate change. Only a few weeks ago we were practically under water. If this continues our potential to produce will change. It could also be influenced by technological advances. Heaven knows, we could all be eating with a pill instead of dairy products in a few years. It is just a word of caution. There is room to exploit the wonderful opportunities of which our farmers can avail but we must be a little bit careful. The recent Amárach report referred to a worrying reduction in graduates for the IT sector. We must be wary of this. I know it is outside the scope of the report but it is important to remember if one does not produce it one cannot sell it.

I very much welcome the opportunity to endorse the report and commend the work of the Department and its embassies in their highly professional approach to trade and supporting our efforts.

Report on the Contribution of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to Economic Recovery: Statements

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