9th November 2026
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have today published the Second Progress Report on the Government’s Action Plan for Market Diversification.
Since its publication, the Action Plan has provided a whole-of-government framework to support export growth, attract investment, strengthen economic diplomacy and promote Ireland internationally. This second progress report highlights significant progress across all four strategic objectives, with strong delivery by Government departments, State agencies and Ireland’s overseas network.
The 108 actions include text and status updates, with 18 marked as completed, 60 in progress and 27 are actions which will be active for the duration of the action plan.
Key achievements during the reporting period include:
- Continued expansion of Ireland’s enterprise, trade and innovation presence in priority and emerging markets. This included new Departmental and State Agency resourcing in target markets including the US, India, UAE, NZ, and South Korea.
- Progress was also made in supporting firms to enter new markets through funding initiatives, advisory services, and improved market intelligence.
- Enhanced supports for Irish businesses seeking to diversify exports and identify new growth opportunities.
- Increased engagement with international partners through trade missions, economic dialogues and strategic bilateral initiatives.
- Strengthened economic and diplomatic capacity across Ireland’s overseas network.
- Implementation of Budget 2026 measures supporting competitiveness, investment and market diversification.
- Continued development of partnerships across Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas.
The report demonstrates the value of a coordinated Team Ireland approach and reaffirms the Government’s commitment to supporting businesses in an increasingly complex global trading environment.
Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke, said:
“The progress outlined in this report demonstrates the strong commitment across Government to supporting Irish businesses as they expand into new markets and build resilience for the future. This plan is helping Irish Businesses navigate an increasingly challenging global trading environment. Agencies have reviewed, or are in the process of reviewing, their overseas footprint to ensure resources are aligned with strategic priorities and emerging opportunities. These reviews will help ensure Ireland's overseas network is positioned to support business growth and investment opportunities.
While much has been achieved over the past year, we remain focused on delivering the ambitions of the Action Plan and ensuring Ireland remains one of the best places in the world to do business, to visit and to work.”
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Helen McEntee, said:
"I welcome the second progress report on implementing the Government Action Plan on Market Diversification, which demonstrates significant progress in implementing measures across each of the Plan’s four strategic pillars. Since the last progress report, Ireland has assumed the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union and I am pleased to note that a number of relevant actions have been progressed at EU level under our Presidency.
In March, we delivered the largest ever St Patrick’s Day “Promoting Ireland” Programme with a determined focus on market diversification. We continue to strengthen our capacity overseas with the announcement of new “Innovation Attachés” to key locations and a strong market diversification focus in both the new Diaspora and Sports Diplomacy Strategies. The global economy continue to have a higher degree of uncertainty than has been the case previously, and it is therefore vital that we continue to implement measures, such as at the Action Plan, that enhance our national economic resilience."
ENDS
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