Taoiseach Micheál Martin has played down the prospect of short-term Government supports for workers and businesses affected by tariffs imposed by the United States.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called for the introduction of measures similar to those introduced during Covid, such as short-time work schemes, to protect jobs and businesses.
However, in advance of meeting unions and employers on Friday, Mr Martin said the crisis imposed by tariffs was “for the long haul” and “we may need a different approach” to that adopted during Covid.
Mr Martin said “we have to really pivot very strongly now to reshaping the economy in the light of what is happening.”
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Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland he said: “I think anything we do has to be targeted, it has to be future oriented and the mechanisms we use may be very well different.”
Mr Martin said: “We need to keep our resources available to invest in water, in energy, in housing, in public transport so we improve the productive capacity, the economy. So that we create jobs in other areas. We need to develop the offshore wind energy area, for example, and renewables – there will have to be new types of sectors developed.”
Mr Martin said the State has to resource Enterprise Ireland, small and medium enterprises and to develop more venture-capital opportunities.
“This is a very early stage of a process here. But equally we have to really pivot very strongly now to reshaping the economy in the light of what is happening.”
Meanwhile, business leaders in Cork have expressed relief that the pharma sector has so far been exempted by president Donald Trump from the 20 per cent tariffs planned for EU exports to the US, but they have expressed concerns that the food and drinks sector on Leeside may be badly affected by the tariffs.
Cork Chamber CEO Conor Healy said there was great relief, at least for the moment, as more than 20 companies in the pharma sector employ 14,000 people in the Cork region, and there are as many again in indirect employment connected to the sector.
“That relief over pharma avoiding tariffs is countered by the fact the food and drinks sector is going to be hit by the 20 per cent tariffs and that’s going to be challenging for industries such as dairy and spirits which are important sectors of the Cork economy.”
Mr Healy said that more than 1,000 people are employed in the spirits distilling sector in Co Cork and such businesses could face significant challenges in trying to compete in the lucrative US market.
“America is a significant market for Irish whiskey exports but what has compounded the challenge for distilleries in Cork is the fact that Irish whiskey distilled in Northern Ireland will only be subjected to the 10 per cent tariff level that president Trump has fixed for the UK.”
Identifying new markets will take time, and in the interim, the Government should look at providing supports, particularly to small and medium-sized enterprises, Mr Healy said.
“Some businesses may find themselves challenged from a cash flow point of view and in terms of maintaining employment levels, so we are calling on the Government to provide supports to businesses in that situation, which they did very well during both Brexit and Covid.”
