The Gathering
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Who are the guests featured in this episode?
Today with David McCullough on RTE Radio 1. Listen back on the RTE Radio Player app.
Now it is time for our Friday gathering. This week I'm joined in studio by Thomas Byrne, Fianna Fáil TD for Me, They, East and Minister of State for European Affairs, Trade and Defence. By Louise Baylis, Head of Social Justice and Policy at St Vincent de Paul. Ellen Coyne, Political Correspondent with the Irish Times. And joining us from our Limerick studio, Conor Sheehan, Labour TD for Limerick City and Spokesperson on Housing. You're all very welcome. Thanks a million for coming in. Just before we get into the discussion, Thomas... The US President Donald Trump says he's going to remove tariffs on Scottish whisky. This is following the visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla, proving that soft diplomacy sometimes has an effect.
There was a question about whether Irish whisky would be included, but it looks like it'll only be whisky from Northern Ireland, isn't it?
Well, look, I mean, it's like everything else with tariffs in America. I think it's a wait and see approach. And if I look at what the U.S. trade representative has said, that seems to be the approach even in the trade representative office. It is something that we are pursuing anyway and have been pursuing. The British have been pursuing this for Scotch in particular for quite some time. And so have we. So let's see what comes out of this, as I understand it has not been implemented yet. But it does show, I think, the huge importance of trade agreements. Irish whiskey lives and dies by free trade. We saw in a number of trade agreements recently the benefits to the Irish drinks industry. I have to say, and I said this publicly.
But with the Mercosur trade agreement, there was literally no discussion from the industry or from anybody else about the benefits to the Irish drinks industry of the Mercosur trade agreement, which then benefits farmers as well. And I think that we have to be really, really conscious of all sectors of the economy, agriculture, but this includes agriculture too, and other sectors when we're dealing with trade, and to keep pursuing those trade agreements to allow our products to be exported. We cannot drink enough whiskey in this country to keep all the distilleries going. We need to sell it abroad.
But obviously, if there's a price differential with Scotch, it's bad news.
That would be the case, but that's not necessarily the case yet. We'll wait and see.
Exactly. OK, I want to get into a discussion about various things that have happened this week. And I'll start again with you, Thomas.
What recent tariffs did the US President announce and why are they significant?
The government announced its support scheme for farmers, for agricultural contractors, for hauliers. Nothing for households. And if you can do targeted supports for hospitality, targeted supports for construction, for hauliers, why can't you give anything to ordinary householders?
Well, I think we wanted to make sure, first of all, with hauliers, I mean, they were deemed to be a priority at the very, very start because, again, just like I said, the country's an exporting economy. We need to get product, a physical product, out of the country and that needs lorry drivers. So at the very start of this fuel shock, I think the Taoiseach and others identified that the position of hauliers was not just... extremely difficult for them. But if they had those difficulties, then it becomes extremely difficult for the rest of the country in terms of people who work in exporting industries, which is a huge part of the country. So decisions were made to do that. There were decisions made around agricultural diesel as well.
And then subsequently, a decision made to bring in a rebate for agriculture. Because they have to have some support in order to keep those industries going, which are absolutely essential, as I said, haulage and agriculture in terms of the food supply industry. to keep them going through the difficulties that they had. So significant supports were brought in for them and I would encourage farmers and contractors and indeed hauliers to look at the details of that.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Who are the guests featured in this episode?
0:00–2:11
2
What recent tariffs did the US President announce and why are they significant?
2:11–6:49
3
How is the Irish whiskey industry affected by trade agreements?
6:49–10:59
4
What support is being provided to farmers and hauliers in Ireland?
10:59–20:06
5
What are the challenges households face regarding energy costs?
20:06–23:59
6
How is the government responding to the rising energy arrears?
23:59–26:22