1051. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the number of trade missions undertaken in the years 2024 and 2025; and the value of new trade agreements arising from those missions.á [61984/26]

Trade missions led by Government Ministers take place across a range of Government Departments. As Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, my department’s trade missions involving Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland , Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland, support FDI investment, support Irish Businesses abroad in entering new export markets and promote Ireland as a tourism location. Trade Missions are a central pillar of Ireland’s international economic strategy.

During trade missions Minister’s engage with foreign governments, chambers of commerce, and industry associations, helping to reduce barriers to market entry, strengthen diplomatic and commercial ties and position Ireland as a reliable trading partner. Sectors being prioritized during a Trade mission are driven by the opportunities identified by our enterprise agencies in a particular location.

Enterprise Ireland (EI) Trade Missions are about assisting EI clients to open up new markets, with Ministerial engagement at events, and trade shows. EI clients often sign new business contacts during a Trade Mission however the development of new business by EI clients may happen subsequently and, in some cases, announcements are not made public due to client confidentiality.

IDA Trade Missions, involve meeting current and future FDI investors in Ireland, a Trade Mission is only one element in the process of attracting new FDI to Ireland and the delivery of a new FDI project can take many years.

Tourism Ireland trade missions are about promoting Ireland as a tourism destination to tour operators and tourism sector overseas.”

Trade Missions can involve a combination of events individually lead by IDA, EI and Tourism Ireland or by more than one enterprise body. For the reasons stated about it would not be possible to calculate the value of new trade agreements arising from those Trade Missions in 2024/25.

Below please find a list of the 2024 and 2025 Trade Missions undertaken by Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment:

2024

Jan/Feb 2024: Dubai, UAE.

February 2024: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait UAE.

March 2024: Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi India. Dhaka, Bangladesh.

May 2024: Warsaw, Poland.

July 2024: New York, Boston USA.

September 2024: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle USA.

2025

24-27 February: US West Coast (Sales Mission).

01 May: Scotland.

12 – 15 May: US Midwest.

20-22 May: IMEX Frankfurt.

20 – 28 June: Expo Japan.

14 – 18 September: US West Coast.

20 – 23 October: Germany.

4-6 November: World Travel Market London.

16 – 20 November: Canada.