Tánaiste Mary Coughlan said tonight the breakdown in world trade talks was a disappointment and posed huge difficulties.
Speaking from Geneva where she was representing Ireland at the talks, Ms Coughlan said: “We did always say agriculture was problematic, but overall it’s important to say the EU did not cause the breakdown in the deal.
She said the talks were “over for now and now it’s time for reflection. It appears to be over for the foreseeable future
“It is a time for ref but it does pose huge difficulties from a global perspective and from an economic perspective,” Ms Coughlan told RTÉ news.
Employers’ group Ibec expressed disappointment over the break down of the talks. The group’s Head of Trade and International Relations Pat Ivory said the failure is a “significant blow to the global economy”.
“The ability to trade on world markets is crucial to the success of the Irish economy and a good WTO deal would have created significant new opportunities for Irish exporters,” said Mr Ivory.
He said as a small open economy, Irish business “needs the certainty that international trade agreements provide into the future”.
He added that financial, computer and other business services support 296,000 high-quality jobs and account for €50 billion worth of Irish exports. “The absence of a new deal to liberalise trade in services will undoubtedly limit the ability of many Irish companies to expand into new and developing markets,” he said.