Taoiseach Micheál Martin has been asked to get firm assurances from the White House on the future of Irish‑US trade ahead of his St Patrick’s Week visit to Washington and Philadelphia.
This request has come from Laois TD Willie Aird who says that ‘concerns grow about the impact of US tariff uncertainty on counties such as Laois’.
Raising the issue in the Dáil, the Fine Gael TD Willie Aird said the visit comes at a moment of ‘real vulnerability for Ireland’, warning that the risks are already being felt locally.
He said Laois is ‘increasingly exposed’ because of its reliance on foreign direct investment and a slowdown in new projects.
Aird said the clearest sign of that slowdown is the fact that only two IDA‑backed investment visits took place in Laois in 2025, which he described as ‘a stark indicator of the pressure the county is under’.
Irish goods exports to the US were worth €72.6 billion in 2024, accounting for 32% of all exports, with pharmaceuticals making up 61% of that figure.
Aird said this level of concentration leaves the State, and counties like Laois in particular, ‘wide open to any shift in US trade or industrial policy’.
Early 2025 figures show almost half of all Irish goods exports in January went to the US.
He said tariff uncertainty has already had ‘serious and immediate effects’.
During a period of heightened tension in April 2025, exports to the US fell by 62%. Economists estimate that wide US tariffs on EU goods could cost Ireland more than €18 billion in lost trade, with knock‑on effects for jobs and investment across the regions.
“These risks are not abstract,” Aird said. “They mean fewer jobs, fewer investment decisions and less confidence on the ground.”
He also highlighted the decision by Leprino Foods to leave its local plant, putting 132 jobs at risk. “That sends a deeply worrying signal for the county,” he added.
Aird urged the Taoiseach to “spell out the risks posed by US tariff and industrial policy”, to set out the commitments Ireland will seek from the US administration, and to push for market diversification rather than relying solely on EU‑level responses.
In reply, the Taoiseach said the Irish‑US economic relationship is of “enormous importance” and must be protected.
He said that apart from Germany, Ireland likely has the strongest economic relationship with the US. US companies directly employ about 210,000 people in Ireland and support a further 167,000 jobs indirectly, while Irish‑owned firms employ more than 200,000 people across all 50 US states.
Martin said the EU had negotiated arrangements to help stabilise trade in key sectors, including pharmaceuticals, medical technology, technology and financial services.
He also pointed to recent US investment announcements in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Clare, Kilkenny, Monaghan and Meath.
He said research and development supports, including an extra 5% tax credit, are strengthening Ireland’s competitiveness. “Research is central to our future ability to export to the US and to attract foreign direct investment,” he said.
The Taoiseach added that he would raise Aird’s concerns about Laois with IDA Ireland and stressed that protecting jobs, workers and farmers in counties like Laois would remain central to his engagements in the United States.
