The Minister referred to the fact that our membership of the EC prevents us from imposing any restriction on the imports of goods from those countries. I am sure the Minister is aware that we have entered into GATT agreements on a wider scale which also imposes restrictions on us. If we were not members of the Community, does the Minister believe that we could pursue a policy of discrimination against imports of goods from countries with whom we would have to trade in any case? The Minister is probably aware that we have an adverse trade balance with only one member of the EC and that that country had a free trade agreement with us before we joined the Community.

If we were not members of the EC and had no trade agreements with certain countries, we could possibly do things which we cannot do as a member of the EC. However, I do not accept that a policy of trade restriction serves the interest of anybody. It is to the overall detriment of all countries to pursue such a policy. What I have been describing in my replies to Deputy Crowley's question does not relate to restrictions on trade but to helping Irish industry to exploit the opportunities of trade to the maximum.