Mr. Steve Aiken:

I thank the Deputy. His first question related to anti-Irish feeling. We do not perceive that at all. That is not the feeling we get. We think the CEO of Iceland was badly briefed. The main thing that has emerged is that this is a cross-European issue. It is not a question of bad produce coming from Ireland. One of the most significant things to happen in the UK was that abattoirs in Yorkshire and Wales were raided, because it indicated that this is a much broader problem, rather than merely a one-off problem. That is very much the informed debate.

The question of where our food comes from has arisen as a result of the horsemeat crisis. Many people in Britain want their food to come from secure sources, such as companies in countries that have known agricultural standards. Ireland has a good reputation in that context. We were worried that Ireland's reputation might be damaged, but the reality is that it seems it is being maintained. That is quite important.

The Deputy also asked whether the debate in Britain could backfire. It could, to a degree. We need to tell people what is important for us. We need to talk about the Irish dimension of the debate. When people have an informed debate about Britain in Europe, we need to make sure they understand the full implications of it. As the Deputy rightly pointed out, Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh, to whom I spoke recently, and Carwyn Jones in Cardiff are very pro-European. Parts of the UK like Cornwall and Devon have a pro-Europe agenda as well. The problem is that not enough people are saying what the benefits of the EU are. We can say how Ireland benefits from the EU. The UK is our gateway and major link to Europe. We need to have the UK connected to Europe because we need the opportunities associated with that. That is a very legitimate position for us to hold. As a business community, we would say that perspective needs to be represented.

I wish to respond to the Deputy's question about the Irish diaspora. We spend a great deal of time meeting the fantastic Irish diaspora, which is one of the really good things we have going for us. The networking opportunities that exist in this regard are underlined by a figure that has been mentioned, which is that approximately 42,000 people at senior management level in British companies are from Ireland. We regularly speak to a broad range of people with an Irish background or extraction who work at some of the top companies in the City of London, the midlands and the rest of the UK. It is interesting that nobody talks about the British diaspora here, which is equally as strong. The young people who are working in Google and in the IFSC constitute another resource that we need to tap into. We need to work with those people. The chamber is putting together a group of people who will look at how we can link with the young executives who are working on either side of the Irish Sea. We think that will be fairly successful. The embassy has been fantastic in this respect. We have had a tremendous opportunity to link into various networks. As the embassy is relatively small, anything that political parties, sporting groups and arts bodies can do to link with the wider diaspora is important. That is one of the things to which the chamber refers when it talks about partnerships. We can help in that process, which will be quite useful as we work towards an island plc or one-stop shop approach. We would welcome any support in that area.